People are going into total freakout here about the temperatures: it dipped down to -5 and was below +8 for a couple days. Big whoop. I guess it’s because they’re transplanted New Yorker City people or something. But I did have the girl behind the counter at our local convenience store ask me, as I stepped in, “How cold is it out there?” I pointedly looked down at my crotch, then replied, “About a centimeter.”
And speaking of short, birthdays today are rather slim pickings (no, it’s not his birthday) but nonetheless include the inventor of our favorite weapon; a perennial loser; a maker of really crappy cars including the infamous Deux Chevaux; a guy who never got a dinner; the inspiration for SugarFree, except the wife-killing part; the greatest non-juiced slugger; the King of Procedurals; an actually legal Alien; and a pioneer of the mockumentary genre.
Let’s get Linkin’, eh?
No “white supremacist,” no firearms. This story is going to disappear quickly. What we need are common-sense nutbag regulations.
“If you take a walk, we’ll tax your feet.”
A perfect roundup of “missing the point.”
And a rare instance of someone NOT missing the point.
Dishonorably discharged goofball stumbles onto a new grift.
Man, this is good. I mean, it’s really good. TvZ’s songs were great, McMurtry’s cover honors the music, and he even gets to demonstrate how skilled he is at guitar.
I think NYC already has a land use tax on hotels and parking lots.
Vanroy? No wonder he was filled with rage. Also, what an asshole.
The problem with Chinese selling secrets is that the Russians will just be hungry for more an hour later.
I’m sure the response would have been exactly the same if the balloon had been IDed as Russian, right? Right??
Possibly.
Although it seems our 19 (?) intelligence agencies suck ass. It went over Alaska, into Canada, then back into the U.S., then someone in Montana spotted it.
“A perfect roundup of “missing the point.”
Not sure what point it’s missing?
The purpose of the balloon and rational responses to it. Other than that…
Do we even know the purpose of the balloon?
Depends on your definition of “we.”
Thanks, Bill.
It’s a floating Rorschach test.
Lol
Linked this yesterday — still seems apropos.
Morning all you happy reprobates.
Wait — he invented the woodchipper too?
No no. The spork.
Spork-fu is nothing to take lightly.
Asserted without evidence
The economy exists solely to provide tax revenue to the government… they only need stretch out their hand and grasp it.
You rarely see any story about economic development or growth where increased tax revenue isn’t foregrounded as the main benefit.
MMT looms large…
‘The group draws its name and inspiration from a larger-than-life Marine, Maj. Gen Smedley Butler, who foiled an attempted fascist coup against the New Deal government of FDR in the 1930s.’
Yeah, about that whole FDR and fascism thing…
Just enjoy your government-private partnership public works projects and shut the hell up.
Dude who desperately needs purpose finds some.
I liked the tidbit about foiling a Russian plot. You might think it was an NPR article.
That little asshat doesn’t deserve to wash Gen. Butler’s jockstrap…
There is a really stupid movie about that released recently, Amsterdam. Really glosses over the whole FDR fascism thing.
Russia and China: Defacto allies sell each other stuff, film at eleven.
Anyone else remember when the So jet Union and Red China were bitter enemies?
Are the Russians still the Klingons and the Chinese the Romulans? I’m just not sure any more. 😟
I never really thought about it… but does that make the Vulcans the Japanese?
I’d sooner say the Vulcans were German, but never really thought about equating them with a real-life present-day nationality.
My oldest sister was a hard core Trekker back in the day when TOS was all there was, and somewhere I came across that comparison of the “bad guys” to our Cold War adversaries. Back then, the Russians were the “super bad guys” and the Chinese were the “not quite as bad” guys.
Reading Kissinger’s memoirs on the diplomatic moves he made with China was enlightening. Helpful in understanding China’s cautious approach to the USSR and why China didn’t want to help North Korea or Vietnam. It was the Russians helping them instead. China wasn’t keen on having strong Commie NextDoor neighbors.
Both were bad guys. One was in your face about it while the other was more coy.
a perennial loser
Happy birthday Beck Hanson!
Be sure to report anyone who describes the balloon with adjective “Chinese” to the proper authorities. The only reason anyone would do that is to promote anti-Asian hate crimes.
a guy who never got a dinner;
Happy birthday Louis Malle?
Fuck you, cut spending.
They’re more likely to cut off your feet and tax the prosthetics than ever cut spending.
+Soviet
Ai typo gud
You thread well, too.
Still rattled by the So jet sonic booms, most like.
Gah! If I didn’t have laundry in the dryer, I’d go back to bed, pull the covers over my head, and not come out again until tomorrow.
“Oi, mate, you got a loicense for those feet?”
the inspiration for SugarFree,
Happy birthday Frederick Banting?
Thus inspired, he decided to support a home-grown group dedicated to sowing racial and political division.
Heh.
From the link they provide for that:
It is known American veterans are only allowed to live in the US!
They’re just never going to stop with the Russia disinfo nonsense are they?
Nope, it’s an article of faith
uh huh
That guy is totally stable, no delusions of grandeur at all.
A suicide attempt alone isn’t going to get you an OTH discharge, more likely counseling followed by a medical discharge. He had to have done something else like going AWOL or threatening his CO. He’s a total lunatic and I’d put money down that in the next year we see him either in prison for murder or Rittenhouse’d.
Sounds legit, National Socialists are all about leaving free packages full of stuff on your front porch. Somebody let this guy know that the best grifts are believable.
Somebody hand him a dictionary, too.
When I read that part of the article, it reminded me of the Corvette salesman in the movie True Lies.
Bill Paxton was a National Treasure.
Game over man, game over!
I just want to know where OMWC obtains his seemingly endless supply of “hook-nosed Jew” images and tropes. You might think he was a member of some group that likes wearing hoods.
He’s a falconer?
No, he’s a falcon.
I am the one who knocks.
You’re the one with the knockers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB_aegewceU
Obligatory.
Mmm… seems he is more of a Snowman.
The balloon response is similar to US border security. You are in danger near the border but if you get to the interior the government won’t bother you.
I like how it was simultaneously a threat yet they couldn’t touch it because it might fall on someone.
I think that’s the first concern they’ve shown for private property in years.
Well with population density in Alaska and Idaho there was absolutely not time or place where they could have brought it down with minimal risk.
Those places are so sparse every home is important. We can afford to loose a few homes in a dense state.
Why do you want to kill Animal?
Pop quiz for math nerds: What’s the least common multiple of 7 and 32?
2^5 x 7^1
They’re relatively prime, so 7*32 = 224.
OK – thanks. Now I know how many 32 oz. cartons of chai latte mix it will take to come out even if I’m making 14 oz. servings (7 oz. mix & 7 oz. milk) instead of just 12 oz. I’d have explained that originally, but I didn’t want to get banned for posting math story problems.
There’s your problem: you’re making chai latte.
You better be pouring that in the Steve Smith tumbler!
Sadly, I think that one is strictly for cold beverages. (It’s at the office for now, keeping me hydrated while I work.) I just got a belated Christmas gift beverage vessel that’s almost as awesome.
^(^
(*)
chai latte mix – ewww gross
I had almost forgotten that noted White Supremacist, Cesar Sayoc.
Inoperative “bombs”.
That explains a lot.
Inspiration for Old Man’s NPR dalliances.
https://archive.ph/32plg
NSFW.
“Will ChatGPT take my job? Experts reveal the five professions at most risk from the AI revolution”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/us-health-weekend-features-project/article-11710217/Will-ChatGPT-job-Experts-reveal-five-professions-risk-AI.html
I think advancements in technology will take many people’s jobs. It always has, but this seems like it could be much more severe.
No worries, the NSA will hire on the laid off workers. Pretty soon, we’ll be a nation of nothing but spies.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/feb/3/nsa-wooing-thousands-laid-big-tech-workers-spy-age/
Corporate banned the use of ChatGPT.
I would assume anything the bot produces has copyrights on it. Probably a safe move.
Also security. Maybe if we had a self-hosted version.
AI and robotics are going to get better and better. Soon there will be very few things only humans can do.
We’re a long way off from AI equipment maintenance and building construction.
Although I can see a direct threat to my previous career as an RF design engineer.
“We’re a long way off from AI equipment maintenance and building construction.”
Also things like medicine. Regardless, machines replacing workers is going to be a very big problem.
Interestingly enough, doctors are already using a basic “AI” in the form of the expert systems that guide their diagnoses.
The software development for those started back in the 80’s. I expect it will accelerate.
The issue as I see it is that those systems absolutely reflect the flawed thinking of their programmers. You can’t look at the state of medicine in America today without seeing it.
HouseGPT
Diagnosis is one place where AI (or as I like to call it “fancy pattern matching”) could really be useful. But, again, it depends entirely on the quality of the input data, which means physicians have to perform complete exams and record all symptoms, and not let preconceptions (or agenda) get in the way. So the amount and quality of human effort required on the front end will probably means the potential of AI is not realized.
The same problem with quality of phenotype identification is why the “we’re going to use PBs of sequence data to find all the rare genetic diseases” thing will, I believe, never really pay off.
Does the name Marvin Minsky ring any bells? He was pushing that same line about AI – forty-odd years ago.
I’ll repeat myself.
Yup. Tell it something false is true and it will repeat the lie back to you. Because that’s how it “learns”.
This stuff is a joke. It is not serious for any use.
And he’ll be right, eventually.
That article doesn’t seem to have much a point other than ChatGPT sucks.
Which is why I don’t own a musket or write with a feather.
In general with regard to technology I agree with you. And certainly robotics have had a big impact. AI for expert systems is even plausible – because it is a bounded, non-creative domain of knowledge.
The general use case of AI has been as under-delivered as it has been hyped.
Key word “seems”.
Sounds like FUD to me.
I can’t see Ali replacing crucial business roles like negotiating, schmoozing investors, inspiring the workforce, doing classified research & development, spying on rival R&D, etc.
I can see AI resulting in an even larger caste of Useless Eaters and idle hands. That won’t be good.
“REVEALED: Three Chinese spy balloons infiltrated the US during Trump administration but he NEVER shot them down or told the public – as Republicans call for Biden to resign for putting Americans at risk”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11714657/Three-Chinese-spy-balloons-infiltrated-Trump-administration.html
“Downing of Chinese spy balloon is the first time military has shot down foreign aircraft over US soil since World War II”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11713859/US-military-shot-foreign-aircraft-American-soil-World-War-II.html
It seems MSNBC has gone completely off the rails. Just look at their home page.
https://www.msnbc.com/
Wow. Almost beyond satire.
I did notice that they threw Omar under the bus.
I would rather get my news from the toilet – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVrJ_0bj6co
I think we’ve found AI’s niche.
MAGA Prime got a new tattoo!
Bad Orange Man is the greatest threat to the nation.
Watching that horrible video, I think the mulatto accountant hit the bike rider by accident while driving like a maniac – making a mess out of his Lexus. The stabbing maybe some kind of drug induced road rage?
whaddup doh’
yo whats goody yo
TALL SABBATH CANS!
Went to a Mozart concert last night. They did 3 masterpieces he wrote between the ages of 16 and 21, not humbling or anything. The Conductor is a very interesting character.
Ol’ Wolfgang is a nice escape from modern life.
Although coming back to the present is sometimes kind of jarring.
I had a good friend who was a member of the local symphony. We were at a party once and he introduced me to several other members. One did not take it at all well when I said, “So you’re in the same Mozart cover band as John huh?”
No worries, the NSA will hire on the laid off workers. Pretty soon, we’ll be a nation of nothing but spies.
A Spy-vs-Spy centipede.
East Germany, here we come!
What were the wily Chinamen REALLY up to while The pros from D C were fixated on the balloon?
“I’m the distraction. You could bring an elephant on stage and the audience wouldn’t notice.”
Racist!!!!!!!?¡!!!???????!???!!!!!!
If the balloon really was for meteorological purposes, we probably won’t ever know since we shot it down over water instead of Montana where practically nobody lives
Everything I’ve read points to them recovering the debris anyway.
Electronics and salt water go great together
Even if their recovery is successful in determining exactly what it did, who knows if they’ll tell the truth about it?
Temperatures under -10C are barbaric. I remember 2016 when for two weeks i walked to the subway 22 minutes in -18C temperature i do not want that again. Also i dislike layering clothes above undershirt sweater jacket and the office tends to be too warm when i get there.
This is why you get a car. And that car has remote start. A 30 sec walk from comfort to comfort.
Not with the traffic in this city and the parking issues.
The unruly ancient rituals still practised today
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230203-the-unruly-ancient-rituals-still-practised-today
We are not worthy of your greatness.
On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path. After careful analysis, U.S. military commanders determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload.
In accordance with the President’s direction, the Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities.
Seems like an inflated sense of accomplishment.
This action was taken in coordination, and with the full support, of the Canadian government. And we thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through NORAD as it transited North America.
I’d ask wtf Canada would have to do with the US sending a sortie to hit a target off the coast of NC but you wouldn’t be able to answer.
Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Daddy always puts us first. Praised be his name.
In a libertarian US civillians would have had the gear to shoot down the thing themselves
+1 privately owned F-15.
Never has popping a balloon been so noble.
It only took a $400K missile.
I can’t believe something so ubiquitous would cost so much.
Isn’t the Sidewinder very old? I could have sworn we used them in Viet Nam.
Yes, but we’re on AIM-9 X or Z or something now.
“smart missiles”
Just bring up your Raytheon app to track their progress.
I’m still unclear why they just didn’t use the 20mm cannon. Surely they could hit a slowly moving balloon with that.
Didn’t want to pass up a live-fire opportunity?
Idk. Seems that the balloon was at the edge of the Raptor service ceiling. Plus Raytheon (or whoever) needs to get paid I guess.
That F22 pilot doesn’t seem to be made of the same stuff as Frank Luke, America’s greatest balloon buster.
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/frank-luke-jr
I was friends with Belgium’s balloon buster, Willy Coppens. He actually visited and stayed with my family for a short time. A fine old gentleman.
I don’t think any American fighter aircraft are equipped with a cannon.
https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104506/f-22-raptor/
“ one M61A2 20-millimeter cannon with 480 rounds”
All have been since the debacle with the first gen F-4 Phantom.
What were those Bozos at Cheyenne Mountain looking at while that balloon drifted over the Bering Sea.
pr0nhub and their W-2’s
A man accused of mowing down and stabbing to death a California doctor who was cycling along the Pacific Coast Highway described himself as ‘mixed race’ in a series of lengthy posts on social media, in which he railed against ‘grudges, malice, separation, hate’.
So it was white-supremacy wut done it.
“Welcoming the arrival of the tractor in the commune” by Wang Tong (王通), 1956.
The tractor is a Zetor 35, imported from Czechoslovakia.
https://mobile.twitter.com/EdMarCarSe1/status/1622067823731261440
Love the belt PTO.
Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Just like our response to the plague.
“Surrender will save lives.”
Russia and Belarus, known for being non-white majority
Japan. Famously full of white people
https://mobile.twitter.com/russophileLs/status/1621871319766777856
In the aftermath of the insurrection of Jan. 6, Goldsmith saw a need give patriotic veterans a positive mission — uncovering extremists and insurrectionists in our midst. Task Force Butler’s work centers on exposing the inner workings and public wrongdoing of neo-fascist groups
Define these terms.
through deep-dive intelligence reports that can give prosecutors the evidence they need go after the hatemongers in court.
For what? Their speech? How patriotic.
Absolutely incredible interview with former Taliban fighters:
>the rent is too high
>my boss wants me to work in the office
>I’m addicted to Twitter
>traffic is horrible after everyone moved here
>petty crime is out of control
https://mobile.twitter.com/quantian1/status/1622017427755212803
Are they sure that isn’t employees from Google’s NYC office?
Push him out the airlock
The deep-pocketed network associated with billionaire Charles Koch is preparing to throw its money and weight behind a single Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential primary – in a move that could significantly reshape the GOP field.
Americans for Prosperity Action, the main political arm of the Koch network, “is prepared to support a candidate in the Republican presidential primary who can lead our country forward, and who can win,” Emily Seidel, the CEO of Americans for Prosperity and a top adviser at AFP Action, wrote in a memo released Sunday.
The memo does not mention Donald Trump, but an official with AFP Action confirmed to CNN that the network is not planning to support the former president’s White House bid.
“To write a new chapter for our county, we need to turn the page on the past,” Seidel wrote to AFP’s staff and activists. “So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter.”
And there was much rejoicing.
The Kochs were anti-Trumpers from the start, no?
Long live the NEW Literally Hitler!
So now we’re all “yay, billionaire bucks in politics” now?
They just need to be the correct billionaires./Soros-sponsored DA
Necktie knots are inherently topological structures; what makes them tractable is the particular manner in which they are constructed
https://mobile.twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1622242830352584704
Beer review:
African Amber Ale. Sucks. Heavy, syrupy, hoppy- it’s like the worst of all worlds. I powered through four of them last night, to see if it might become more palatable. It did not. The remaining two are in dire danger of getting poured down the drain. I don’t even know if it could be used for cooking.
Is it from Africa?
Is it from Africa?
Worse- Seattle.
There’s your problem.
“But how are we supposed to disarm our political opposition?” – Dems
There is a major ruling this week in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit where a three-judge panel ruled unanimously in United States v. Rahimi that the federal bar on gun possession for individuals under a domestic violence restraining order violates the Second Amendment. The opinion is most notable for its exploration of the historical analogues supporting the rule, as required under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. The case also relied on a dissenting opinion in an appellate case, Kanter v. Barr, by then Judge Amy Coney Barrett, which I discussed during her nomination. …
The Fifth Circuit rejected a novel and sweeping interpretation by the Biden Administration that the Second Amendment does not apply to individuals deemed “dangerous” by the government. The DOJ relied upon the Court references in Heller and Bruen to “law-abiding citizens” but the panel noted that the Court used those references to say that there could be limits on the right and that its decision should not “be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.” It further noted:
Never mind the fact that the guy was not convicted of anything such that he would forfeit his rights.
More of that Koch article:
Seidel said the network is stepping up its activity to help address “the broken politics” that she said has created a “toxic situation” in the nation’s capital and blocked policy progress.
“The Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles,” Seidel wrote. “And the American people are rejecting them.”
And she cast Democrats as pushing “more and more extreme policies.”
Several Republicans weighing 2024 bids have longstanding ties to Koch world, including former Vice President Mike Pence. Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff and longtime aide, once oversaw political operations at the Koch network.
Another potential contender, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, had the financial backing of Koch political committees when he represented Wichita – where Koch Industries is headquartered – as a congressman. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is expected to announce her bid for the Republican nomination later this month, has attended at least one Koch donor conclave. And a Koch-backed super PAC supported Ron DeSantis before he won a competitive GOP primary in 2018 on his way to becoming governor.
Bring back business-as-usual Republicanism. Let’s get the mandarinate humming again.
The libertarian-leaning network has engaged in a public reset of its priorities in recent years and worked to distance itself from the Republican brand during the Trump era.
Since David died.
Now they want to align themselves more closely with those fire breathing libertarians at the Chamber of Commerce.
On baking chicken wings: My current favorite technique is to put baking powder in the spice rub. Bake wings on rack so the juices drain, turning the wings once or twice to evenly crisp the wing. If you are frugal and like to maximize flavor, pour meat juices into wing sauce. Dump wings in bowl and sauce liberally. Proceed to make giant mess all over face and hands.
Got the technique from chef John on Food Wishes and made it my own.
Can’t make this very often because I end up eating way too much.
I marinate the wings in mixture of hot sauce and spices, throw em in the air fryer for 1/2 hr, dowse in sauce and enjoy.
Cool. I am making four pounds of wings for Superbowl. I will try this.
No idea what my wife does, I’m here to eat them, not analyze them.
Similar technique as ATK, but they do a lower temp cook first before cranking up the temp. They come out great.
Daily Quordle 377
3️⃣4️⃣
7️⃣6️⃣
Today in “liable to be disagreeably surprised”
A 16-year-old girl has been attacked and killed by a shark while swimming in a river in Perth, Western Australia, local authorities said.
The teenager was pronounced dead after being pulled from Swan River, CNN affiliate Nine News reported.
This is an extremely traumatic incident for anyone to witness,” Inspector Paul Robinson from Western Australia Police told a press briefing.
Robinson said the girl had jumped into the water to swim with a pod of dolphins that had been spotted nearby.
I would think the real surprise was that it wasn’t a crocodile.
The only announcement from the new DC slate of movies and show is Booster Gold, maybe someday we’ll finally get a Question project. I can dream.
I would watch a Plastic Man/ Ambush Bug buddy comedy.
Also, how on Earth did the MCU not give us a film adaptation of the G.I. Joe/ Transformers crossover comic series?
Clarification
With other academics and experts critiquing the study for effectively ignoring a host of other environmental factors that could have caused the asthma issues — “mold, traffic pollution, habits of individual families” — the authors appeared to backtrack. Seals said the study “does not assume or estimate a causal relationship” between childhood asthma and natural gas stoves but instead “only reports on a population-level reflection of the relative risk given what we know about exposure to the risk factor.”
Well, that makes all the difference in the world.
“relative risk“
Fuck off.
“the risk factor”
“The”, you say. You mean, if I focus on a potential risk, and inflate the variance with “relative” risk numbers, I might get some pub and and a grant?