Gabbard

Well... I guess now we (the People) will have to rely on the Four Eyes spooks to tell us when Kim Don-Felon and his Merry Band of Fascists (so says this Tesla investor) and/or Gabbard betray us to Vlad.

Have a nice day.

Fun With Words

Some on-air pundit recently noted that DOGE is the name of a fake cryptocurrency which actually went live. Go figure.

[A] cryptocurrency created by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, who decided to create a payment system as a joke, making fun of the wild speculation in cryptocurrencies at the time.

The Musk Ox is a joke, so it does fit.

But Doge has another meaning: dictator

In Venice, doges normally ruled for life, although a few were forcibly removed from office. While doges had great temporal power at first, after 1268, the doge was constantly under strict surveillance: he had to wait for other officials to be present before opening dispatches from foreign powers; he was not allowed to possess any property in a foreign land.

No Gaza for you!!

It's a Non-Linear World - part the first

Well... yet another series of essays. This one could have, should have, been started when this edifice came to be. Oh well.

So, on to climate change. Yes it does exist. Some new data to contemplate.

This month he co-authored a paper which concluded global warming is accelerating faster than expected, due in large part to regulations to reduce shipping pollution. While this pollution is a human health hazard, it also has the effect of reflecting sunlight away from the Earth.

So, it seems, even scienists who should have some notion of non-linear systems keep getting caught with their panties down. My guess as to why: they figure that if they tell the truth about non-linear (colloquially 'exponential') systems, they'll scare the shit out of folks who understand it, and cause the sub-GED Bible thumpers to attack these pointy headed Liberal Lying Scientists. The mis-rule of the idiots.

From the point of view of the MAGA leaders, and their most faithful, if Mother Earth ceases to be habitable in its current level, such will happen after they're long dead. Or, in their Bible thumping ways, extrapolate the Bible's assertion that God won't ever flood Mother Earth again. Ignoring the geologic fact that such never happened (filling the Med is almost surely the source of the myth). Do any of these give a shit about their kids and grandkids? Much less more future generations? Big fat no to both.

Thought For The Day - 10 February 2025

Why, I'll just bet it all on the Guh-eye-annts being just soooooooo happy for Saquon. They really did get it that he wasn't worth a slimy hanky.

Stupid is as Stupid Does - part the fifth

Once again, Batshit J. Moron proves once again how dumb and demented he really is. 25% tariff on steel and aluminum? Way to go dummy!

Yes, tariffs are a tax on Americans, not the foreign producers. Yes, tariffs (everywhere, for what it's worth) are used to 'protect' nascent industry. Yes, tariffs encourage, no - demand, that domestic producers raise price to meet the inflated price of the imported stock. Yes, tariffs drive inflation. Way to go!

So, no, the American consumer gets nothing in the bargain.

Both steel and aluminum are not nascent industries in these here United States. In fact, iron production has been declining for years due in significant measure to the over-mining of the ore, mostly in the Mesabi Range, a once largest deposit on the planet. A significant amount of it was extracted during WWII to make the weapons of war which enabled the Allies to beat the Nazis. I wonder if Batshit J. Moron even understands that? Wasn't Daddy Drumpf an "America Firster"?

During Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, his father's 1927 arrest at a KKK march resurfaced.

KKK and Lindbergh and the rest were siblings. In any case, putting tariffs on steel are unlikely to rejuvenate an industry made moribund by lack of raw resource.

US iron ore made up 2.5 percent of the total mined worldwide in 2015.
...
None of the iron ore now mined in the US is "direct shipping" ore ready to be fed into the iron- and steel-making process. The ore is concentrated to raise the iron content before use. All the iron ore currently mined is from open pits.

IOW, what's left is shitty bottom of the barrel ore.

So, what countries have the most high quality ore, one might ask? Not the USofA. Nascent industry protection? In a pig's ass.

1 - Australia 
3 - Russia
4 - China 
6 - Canada

So, stupid is as stupid does.

Now, what about aluminum?

Well, again stupid is as stupid does. The USofA isn't even on the list. No industry to protect! Australia is the largest producer of aluminum (second in reserves) with Guinea having the largest bauxite reserves.

I Bet You Thought I Was Full of Shit

As the title says. Turns out, not so much. Yet more reporting on the evil deviousness of Kim Don-Felon and his Merry Band of Fascists (so says this Tesla investor).

Even a moment's pondering would yield more than a few surrogates for Red states which could be corralled for the purpose of boosting the Red and screwing the Blue. This one, breeding, as the proper measure for which states get transportation funding is beyond ludicrous. But there you go.

Prioritizing areas with higher birthrates would, however, send more federal funding to Republican states. South Dakota, Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota and Texas are among the states with the highest fertility rates, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States that have the lowest fertility rates include Vermont, Oregon, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, none of which voted for Mr. Trump in the 2024 election.

I suppose that the sub-GED crowd that lives in our domestic shithole countries are fond of fucking (bareback, and not on da pill) in their cars while stuck in traffic jams in the middle of nowhere? Why not?

That's Why!! - part the second

Well... staff of the NYT has confirmed the main points of the earlier missive

The instrument approach for Runway 1 calls for a descending plane to cross over the helicopter corridor while the plane is at a much higher altitude, somewhere from 620 to 1,700 feet and more than a minute from landing. The approach for Runway 33, however, calls for a plane to cross over the helicopter corridor at a much lower altitude, because a plane is seconds from landing. The clearance between a helicopter in the corridor and a descending plane may be from 100 to 300 feet, which can result in close calls if there are severe fluctuations in the altitude of either aircraft.

So, the clearance on 1 is so much more than on 33. I don't yet know whether the CRJ would be advised to touchdown closer to the threshold on 33 than it would aim for on 1, but it seems logical given the shorter length of 33 and the CRJ's rollout. In any case, as stated, the height at the river's edge, where the two flight paths intersect, is quite different.

Not only that,

But the helicopter was at least a half-mile off of the approved route when it collided with the jet

Now, in which direction that half-mile is, makes a difference and isn't stated in the report. If a half-mile closer to the west bank of the river means the CRJ would be still closer to the ground at intersection. What isn't yet confirmed is why ATC sent the CRJ over to 33. Was it crosswind, or just convenience for ATC for some reason? So far, only The Shadow knows.