Category: Uncategorized

Thesis: The World’s Richest Man… Is A Sad Caricature — Of Human Banality…

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Elon Musk now (as a deeply autistic sociopath) regularly amplifies “known-to-be-lies” memes and racist tropes on his Sh!tter (a/k/a X-itter) service.

He appears onstage with a demented, incontinent, and dodderingly-evil moron, who can barely offer a single coherent thought, without revisiting his own perceived injuries. He is a collapsed narcissist. [And Musk is a mere decade or two away from… being the same.]

Yet the Powerline boys… revere him for all of it.

Why?

Because they have to.

They’ve sold their souls to the dark one.

D A M N A T I O N.

Soon enough — his, and their — times will be over. Onward.

Europa Clipper — Launching This Week: Then, At Decade’s End, Cataloging Potential Life — Out By Jupiter…

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We have waited a decade already, for the follow up mission to Juno — and a closer study of the water vapors venting from cracks in the ice, on Europa. This is likely the best place in our local system to seek out evidence of non-terrestrial life. [Just one of dozens of my prior backgrounders, here.]

But to be clear, due to a fuel-conserving trajectory, the mission won’t even enter orbit around Europa until this decade is at an end. I will guarantee, however, whatever we learn then, and there — will have been worth the nearly 20 year wait, here.

Watch the launch NASA-TV on Thursday, October 10, 2024 (weather permitting, of course, with another hurricane, this one called Milton, due into Florida by the night before):

…Europa Clipper will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) to reach Jupiter in April 2030. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa. On each orbit, the spacecraft will spend less than a day in the dangerous radiation zone near Europa before zipping back out….

Two to three weeks later, it will repeat the process. The spacecraft carries nine science instruments, and a gravity experiment that uses the telecommunications system. All science instruments will operate simultaneously on every pass….

Now you know — and despite the severity of hurricane seasons increasing due to our own (and still reversible) contributions to climate change, we hold great optimism — for the probability that by 2030, we will have definitive signatures of biological activity, in the liquid water oceans below the ice of Europa. Onward, smiling… ever, smiling.

नमस्ते

Yep — Bill Otis Cannot Read The English Language — For Its Plain Meaning.

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Overnight, Bill falsely suggests that Mr. Biden wants to “protect Iran’s nukes”.

Spoken like a man who has never served on any front line. Ever.

More precisely, there are oceans full, of salty lies here, to wit:

(i) Iran does not possess any nukes.

(ii) The notion that Mr. Biden is wisely-reticent to use US troops, to attack Iran pre-emptively, over a program it likely still doesn’t possess the full on the ground ops sophistication for, is all Mr. Biden said. He won’t start WW III for Bibi, or at Bibi’s behest (as Otis would hope he would do).

(iii) If Netanyahu decides to try to militarily eliminate Iran’s nukes efforts — by killing civilians and scientists… that is on him. And him, alone. [But the people of Israel will die because of his decisions. By the thousands, too.]

(iv) Consequently, he will have to answer to ALL the people of Israel (including the Israeli Diaspora!), when Iran’s mullahs eventually purchase a nuke or two (that Putin will sell them, for some price — to be sure)… and then… obliterate Israel.

(v) I support Israel — but I deplore the hard right US GOP’s efforts to demonize the US’s attempts to defuse the wider war there.

(vi) Thus Bill Otis is an irresponsible…lying sack of dung, here.

Out.

Scott’s Knickers Are In A Twist… Because People Genuinely Like Kamala… “¡Si Pueda!”

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This morning, Johnson is burping up bile… because Alan Page and Magic Johnson and dozens of other storied athletes are voting for Kamala. “¡Si Pueda!”

Funny thing — Scott stayed silent on Thursday past, when — in Ripon, Wisconsin (the place where the GOP was created shortly before the Civil War)… both Dick Cheney (43’s Veep) and Liz Cheney (former GOP stalwart and legislator out of ruby red Wyoming) endorsed Kamala — “to save our nation”.

Instead, he mocks athletes and pop icons like Taylor Swift for expressing their view — that she’s more capable than Tangerine.

Charmingly… dictatorial are these Powerliners.

“Dark” doesn’t begin to convey Trump’s latest lying rhetoric. And these frothy hard right wing nuts, they endorse it all.

Yikes!

What “Centaur 29P” Teaches Us, About Early Solar System Bodies…

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New data from the JWST suggests at least some, and perhaps many of these small icy primordial bodies may be the product of ancient “mash ups” — that is, two or three different body-types — which were smashed together, billions of years ago.

And now, as they spew out their subsurface volatiles, we see the evidence for perhaps three separate world-lettes, long ago all mushed together. Here’s the latest from NASA:

…[The “Centaurs”] are former trans-Neptunian objects that have been moved inside Neptune’s orbit by subtle gravitational influences of the planets in the last few million years, and may eventually become short-period comets. They are “hybrid” in the sense that they are in a transitional stage of their orbital evolution: Many share characteristics with both trans-Neptunian objects (from the cold Kuiper Belt reservoir), and short-period comets, which are objects highly altered by repeated close passages around the Sun….

Centaurs’ distant orbits and consequent faintness have inhibited detailed observations in the past. Data from prior radio wavelength observations of Centaur 29P showed a jet pointed generally toward the Sun (and Earth) composed of CO. [JWST] detected this face-on jet and, thanks to its large mirror and infrared capabilities, also sensitively searched for many other chemicals, including water (H2O) and CO2. The latter is one of the main forms in which carbon is stored across the solar system. No indication of water vapor was detected in the atmosphere of 29P, which could be related to the extremely cold temperatures present in this body.

The [JWST] telescope’s unique imaging and spectral data revealed never-before-seen features: two jets of CO2 emanating in the north and south directions, and another jet of CO pointing toward the north. This was the first definitive detection of CO2 in Centaur 29P….

So it is that much of the star stuff that became… us, and all we see here on Earth, is the product of lots of little differences – brought together.

And so also, the darkness of ignorance too — is pushed backward, one discovery at a time. Let it be so, in our electoral politics as well… for we cannot afford, as a nation, to go backward.

Onward, to “the undiscovered country” Will Shakespeare called the future.

नमस्ते

Abbott Unit Receives First Emergency Designation — For Its Alinity Mpox Diagnostic Test Kit, From WHO Authorities… Being Shipped To Africa Next Week.

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This is needed — and welcome. And soon there will doubtless be others, approved — but Abbott in North Chicago, is first out of the gate — on the Mpox testing kits.

No word yet on how many thousands will be shipped, nor how soon — but it would be safe to bet that at least 500,000 will be ready and in Africa by Thanksgiving 2024. That’s the throughput the company can run at. Here’s the latest — on all this good news:

…The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the first mpox in vitro diagnostic (IVD) under its Emergency Use Listing (EUL) procedure, an important step in improving global access to mpox testing. The approval for emergency use of the Alinity m MPXV assay, manufactured by Abbott Molecular Inc., will be pivotal in expanding diagnostic capacity in countries facing mpox outbreaks, where the need for quick and accurate testing has risen sharply. Early diagnosis of mpox enables timely treatment and care, and control of the virus.

Limited testing capacity and delays in confirming mpox cases persist in Africa, contributing to the continued spread of the virus. In 2024, over 30 000 suspected cases have been reported across the region, with the highest numbers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Nigeria. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, only 37% of suspected cases have been tested this year….

Now you know. Onward, to a wonderful, if busy, Fall weekend (in prep for Emmys season). Be excellent to one another.

नमस्ते

Courtesy Of Anon. — We Learn That Bit By Bit, NASA Is Putting V’ger 2 Into A Deep Sleep — Almost 13 Billion Miles From Home… Smile.

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But to be clear this is not a sad story — this is one of. . . scientific triumph.

The identical pair of nuke-powered probes have now run amazingly well, for nearly a half century — and are sailing interstellar space. . . long past the rated capacity of the parts aboard. Here’s the latest, on the Voyager 2’s power conservation efforts:

. . .Voyager 2 launched into space on Aug. 20, 1977 and left the solar system on Nov. 5, 2018. It is currently 12.8 billion miles (20.5 billion kilometers) from Earth and is using four science instruments to study space beyond the heliosphere, the sun’s bubble of influence around the solar system. NASA thinks that Voyager 2 has enough power to keep running one science instrument into the 2030s, but doing that requires selecting which of its other instruments need to be turned off.

Mission specialists have tried to delay the instrument shutdown until now because Voyager 2 and Voyager 1 are the only two active probes humanity has in interstellar space, making any data they gather unique. Thus far, six of the spacecraft’s initial 10 instruments have been deactivated. Now, losing the seventh has become unavoidable, and the spacecraft’s plasma science instrument drew the short straw. On Sept. 26, engineers gave the command to turn off the instrument….

The plasma science instrument consists of four “cups” collecting information on the amount of plasma, a fluid of charged particles, flowing past Voyager 2 and the direction of this flow. Three cups are angled toward the sun, monitoring charged particles in the solar wind while within the heliosphere. A fourth cup is angled away from the others to observe plasma in planetary magnetic fields and interstellar space….

The cold night may be… approaching, upon which she falls silent and dark, forever… but that night will not be… tonight. And, not before November 4, 2029, we confidently predict. Smile.

नमस्ते

Thankfully, The Two German Health Workers Who Traveled By Plane, From Rwanda — And Then By Train — From Frankfort To Hamburg Test Negative For Marburg…

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We do not wish to appear alarmist, but by the time one feels symptoms from Marburg’s, Ebola or Mpox, even — it is too late. You’ve been contagious for between 24 and 56 hours. So it is probably time for even asymptomatic health workers to voluntarily take a PCR test, before travelling into countries outside of continental Africa, given that multiple viral outbreaks are now afoot.

Of course, this effort must rely on voluntary responsibilities. And the very good news is that even though one of these travellers was experiencing flu-like symptoms, the Marburg possibility has been ruled out. Even so, the pair has agreed to a short observational isolation protocol, just to be certain. That is the ethical and responsible thing to do, given how contagious these strains are. Here’s the latest from the UK Independent reporting overnight:

…Two passengers with suspected cases of Marburg virus in Germany have tested negative for the highly contagious disease. The travellers — returning from Rwanda to Hamburg via Frankfurt — were taken for examination at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) on Wednesday (2 October)….

Platforms at Hamburg Central Station were closed yesterday after one of the passengers contacted doctors while on the ICE train to Hamburg, concerned they had contracted a tropical disease in Rwanda.

Hamburg’s Social Affairs Authority confirmed that the pair had worked in a hospital in Rwanda as part of their medical studies and tested negative for Marburg virus in a PCR test.

According to the authority, at no time did either passenger have “complaints or symptoms corresponding to the disease” after one of the medical students, 26, had minimal contact with a patient infected with Marburg on 25 September….

Rwanda is currently experiencing an outbreak of Marburg virus with 36 cases, 25 people in isolation and 11 deaths confirmed as of Wednesday in the landlocked African country….

Now you know, and be excellent to one another — as there is no approved vaccine as of this afternoon for Marburg. Onward.

नमस्ते

The Idiot Tom Fitton Just Got His Hindparts Handed To Him — In The Chicago Reparations Strike Suit.

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Well… this is fitting — and exactly as we predicted. The City’s attorneys at Jenner have crushed Fitton and Judicial Watch, forcefully demonstrating that the latter has no standing, since none of the recruited plaintiffs owned — nor sought to own — property in the city as of 2021.

Game over, thus, from the 17 pager filed last night:

…Recognizing they did not meet the real property in Evanston requirement, Plaintiffs contend that the implementation of certain changes to how the applicants received the benefit from the Program, which was made long after the application period had closed, somehow altered the requirement that applicants have or seek a property interest in Evanston. ECF No. 20 at 8–10. It did not. The change, which only applied to those who timely applied to the Program, related solely to how a timely and qualified applicant could receive their benefit under the Program….

[Thus the] City of Evanston respectfully requests that the Court grant its Motion and dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and / or 12(b)(6), or, in the alternative, permit Evanston to take limited jurisdictional discovery to confirm that Plaintiffs lack standing.

Dated: October 2, 2024….

Hilarious. It is now high time to inform the voting public in the Village of Palatine that Village Trustee Svenson believes that about one third of the population in that village should be treated as less worthy citizens — less worthy of respect, and protection — than their whyte counterparts. Charming.

Look for a new social media campaign / website shortly. Watch this space.

Out.

Bill Otis Was A Prosecutor, Allegedly. He Well-Knows This Timing Was Solely Trump’s Doing.

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Bill Otis tonight openly lies, to try to save Tangerine from an increasingly likely defeat in about 32 days.

The central lie Bill tells, is that he blames a very capable federal District Court judge for applying the federal criminal law as it is written.

He blames Judge Chutkan for treating Tangerine the same as any other now convicted felon — who, by his own choice, delayed the proceedings in DC while he fought criminal proceedings in New York City.

That is, she has respected the long-standing Constitutional mandate — under our First Amendment, which states that “we the people” are entitled to know how our criminal courts function, and the press is entitled to report on all felony matters – as public records, including describing and reviewing the evidence from indictments that have been handed down against already convicted felons. [That is exactly where Trump finds himself, all due to his own criminal choices, stretching across decades. And Bill very well know this.]

So it is Trump alone — who is responsible for the fact that all this evidence has become public just about a month before America will cast its ballots.

No other convicted felon has ever been able to hide subsequent indictments, and the associated evidence, from public view — for any reason whatsoever, let alone that the felon churlishly decided to run for office (again!), back in 2022. There is no right to run for high office free of your criminal entanglements, there is only the privilege to run for office, and to accept with the exercise of that privilege… that “the criminal law does what it does.” [Bill will recall that DC Mayor Marion Barry is Exhibit A for that notion!]

In sum, if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. Or… don’t commit felonies in the first place.

Personally, I believe this is exactly how a democracy should work: we the people, reading for ourselves, should be allowed to evaluate the evidence in a felony case that bears directly on whether he would faithfully serve and protect us all — if granted had a second term.

If he feels that the Special Counsel’s sworn evidence is too one-sided, he is absolutely free to release all his “exonerating evidence” — to the public. [But we all know there is almost none of that.]

So instead, Bill Otis here conjures up a BS political charge — against a federal court judge of high morals, and impeccable standing. He should be ashamed of himself.

Damnation. Out.