Thursday Afternoon Links

by | Feb 8, 2024 | Daily Links | 165 comments

RIP, Mojo Nixon. Obligatory tune. (NSFW, of course)

BREAKING – BIDEN GETS A PASS ON MISHANDLING CLASSIFIED DOCS: You’ve probably already heard this, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention it.

 

 

ON-ORBIT REFUELING TECHNOLOGY GETS BOOST: US Space Force selects Northrop Grumman’s Passive Refueling Module (PRM) as a favored interface to enable future in-space refueling of military satellites. The PRM has a docking mechanism to allow a refueling vehicle in orbit to transfer propellant to another satellite to extend its useful life. The tankers will have the capacity to carry one metric ton (tonne) of hydrazine fuel.

MOTH – PORCH LIGHT PHENOMENON FINALLY EXPLAINED:  “The insects are not actually drawn to the glow like “moths to a flame,” as the old saying suggests, but rather trapped in a disorienting orbit around the artificial light, scientists reported…” CNN of course uses this as a springboard to lecture about light pollution.

HAWAII WANTS TO ENACT RIGHT-THINK LAW: Just so you’re CLEAR on that. Fortunately, there are no penalties (yet) for not having the “Aloha Spirit.” Here, have some mind bleach.

 

 

‘DEATH STAR’ MOON MAY HARBOR HIDDEN OCEAN: “[D]ata from NASA’s Cassini probe reveals that the point in Mimas’ orbit where it comes closest to Saturn changed slightly over 13 years, researchers report February 7 in Nature. Because Mimas’ internal composition affects the gravitational dance between the moon and its planet, these orbital dynamics, along with some previously seen moon wobbles, point to a liquid interior, astronomer Valéry Lainey of the Paris Observatory and colleagues say[…] The new calculations suggest that Mimas has an ice shell roughly 20 to 30 kilometers thick, followed by a 70-kilometer-deep ocean and a solid rocky core.”

THE DEATH KNELL OF THE TROUBLED MARS SAMPLE RETURN PROGRAM: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announces cuts, layoffs. I have long been skeptical about the MSRP, especially as the delays and changes mounted. The space press has begun running editorials touting alternatives to MSRP – either more, better robots, or accelerating human exploration of Mars.

A final little ditty for your commenting pleasure.

About The Author

Tonio

Tonio

Tonio is a Glibs shitposter, linkstar (Thursday PM, yo), author, and editor. He is also a GlibZoom personality and prankster. Tonio is a big fan of pic-a-nic baskets. His hobbies include salmon fishing, territorial displays, dumpster diving, and posing for wildlife photographers.

165 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    I never really knew about Mojo Nixon (I guess my store would need some fixin’).

    • B.P.

      Michael J. Fox has no Elvis in him.

      Wayne Kramer of MC5 also died this week.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        The evil anti-Elvis.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        But, Elvis needs boats!

    • juris imprudent

      It was weird catching him on Sirius on the Outlaw Country channel.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      A San Diego guy, played last month on the local radio’s weekly oldies block.

  2. pistoffnick

    …or accelerating human exploration of Mars.

    I nominate “wickid smaht” Matt Damon

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      He can science the shit out of it.

    • KSuellington

      That’s inherently paternalistic.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Well, we went to slingshot him around the sun to get him there faster, and whoops. Gravity was a little stronger than we thought.

      But we have a plan to send Ben Affleck.

      — NASA’s Plan to fund themselves for the next hundred year.

  3. SDF-7

    BREAKING BIDEN GETS A PASS ON MISHANDLING CLASSIFIED DOCS:

    I’ve been working — so hadn’t heard it… but what a shock. Let me guess… “No reasonable prosecutor” again… except any reasonable prosecutor would be persecuting any non-Evil Party minion of course… that’s only reasonable.

    Checking the article:

    We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory

    Oh, that’s cute… wasn’t there multiple documents going back a decade or more? He hasn’t been Tapioca Brain the whole time… must be nice to be exempt from the law because you’re incapable of running your life, much less the country.

    Keep making sure no one can respect the institutions folks… this will end well.

    • Tonio

      So, he’s too much of a tapioca brain to prosecute, yet he’s totes compos mentis enough to be POTUS. The whole thing stinks like a bad nursing home corridor at the end of shift.

      • bacon-magic

        ew

  4. Rat on a train

    Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.

    But Hur said that the evidence “does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

    Don’t expect equivalent treatment, proles.

    • juris imprudent

      Not to mention the disclosure to non-authorized persons. Fuck me. I do that about some tiny ass technical detail – you know what happens.

      • creech

        Didn’t some general get in trouble for some pillow talk disclosure?

      • kinnath

        That’s different!

    • Drake

      They were literally in the background of a campaign photo.

      We are now Clown Country with an appropriate Clown Justice system.

      • rhywun

        Now?

        I guess it’s useful to have confirmation beyonder a shadow of a doubt than we already had.

  5. SDF-7

    ON-ORBIT REFUELING TECHNOLOGY GETS BOOST

    Yeah — if SpaceX gets the whole Starship thing where they do the initial launch light and send up fuel tankers to top it off before leaving orbit, I’d think that’d be more useful in the future. But I’m sure the Skunkworks can redirect some of this for the military sat stuff they can’t admit to.

    • Tonio

      SpaceX et als are also working on orbital refueling of bigger craft. Your Thursday Afternoon Links will certainly cover this testing.

  6. bacon-magic

    Love all the space news Tonio!

  7. Yusef drives a Kia

    Hello fellow miscreants. I have been quite minimalist lately, there is a lot on my mind. Life is actually alright, if a bit hectic (to say the least) and I haven’t died yet, so there’s that.
    I have a few articles in the works so don’t think you got rid of me, I’m just chillin…
    Cheers!

    • SDF-7

      Cheers, Yusef! Glad to hear it. Being in one of those “Aaaaah! The release has too many defects to ship!” times of my work life, you have my sympathy on the “busy” part…

      • R C Dean

        “Being in one of those “Aaaaah! The release has too many defects to ship!” times of my work life, you have my sympathy on the “busy” part…“

        *cries in proxy statement*

      • rhywun

        too many defects

        Taking care of that is what the first few years after release are for.

    • Tonio

      Thanks, Yusef!

    • juris imprudent

      See I’m just gonna slide out for a couple of weeks myself here shortly. I think it was the abrupt message that sent a signal we didn’t want.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        you are correct,

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Uh, bon voyadgee, JI?

      • R C Dean

        Have fun!

        Our back and forth on secession may turn into a post. I fear it may take . . . research, though.

    • DEG

      Life is actually alright

      Good

  8. SDF-7

    ‘DEATH STAR’ MOON MAY HARBOR HIDDEN OCEAN

    I swear — kids today. All the fun “… except Europa” lines and this little moon just has to try to generate it’s own meme (-as)….

    • Tonio

      Because you are one of my special favorites (no homo), I’ll turn you on to the original source of that song.

      • juris imprudent

        Tell me, does Bollier ever address the tragedy of the commons?

      • Tonio

        I had never heard of the guy before 3:26 PM today. I didn’t want to link to JL’s Wikipedia bio, and the Bollier article was the first thing that came up…

    • robc

      Old punk rockers performing is even worse than general geezer rock.

      • Nephilium

        /looks over plans for May that includes Devo, Stiff Little Fingers, the Skatalites, the (English) Beat, Madness, the Descendents…

        What age is considered old here?

      • Tonio

        Get off my lawn!

      • kinnath

        Ask fourscore

      • Fourscore

        Looks around for an Old Guy, sees a mirror, “Gotcha”

      • juris imprudent

        Brings to mind the cartoon of 4 or 5 old guys going into a concert venue and someone asks them aren’t you a little old for this show, and they respond they’re the band.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Anyone older than me.

      • Nephilium

        At several of the fests I’ve been to, there’s a shirt that’s common. “Old Punks don’t die. They just stand at the edge of the pit.” Another subculture joke is that Rockabilly is where Punks go to retire.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        The old joke was “what is a skin head? A punk with a job.”

      • rhywun

        This. I don’t enjoy fossil music but de gustibus unum et al.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Heh, my son went and saw Helmet when he was in college. I asked him if it was a good show, “A bunch of guys your age, slamming around like they were 18. Yeah, it was fun.”

        But, at least there was a parking lot!

    • Homple

      Phil Ochs?

  9. Mojeaux

    Welp. Karma just put me over her knee and beat my bare ass with a belt.

    Got pulled over for speeding in a school zone. Have to go to court for that.

    • Sean

      Ouch. Sorry.

    • kinnath

      How ironic

      • Mojeaux

        Right?!

      • kinnath

        But no harm, no foul. Right?

      • Mojeaux

        Meh, it was a school zone. The least I can do is own up to it graciously.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        But you’re going to court?

      • Mojeaux

        Have to. Mandatory arraignment.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I blame RC Dean.

      • R C Dean

        *sigh*

        Get in line, bub.

    • robc

      I got 25 over in a school zone once. Yeah, that sucked.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        You know who else gets 25 and over in a school zone?

      • B.P.

        Not the female teachers, if recent headlines are any guide.

    • Tonio

      Ugh, sorry.

    • bacon-magic

      Don’t roll the window down and ask if you are being detained. (waits for tazing)

    • Fourscore

      Those are extra special speed zones, gotta respect them. Not surprised about the court date. If you need a witness to testify it couldn’t be you ’cause you were busy posting on the Glibs we here to back you up, even if it’s a different time zone.

      Good luck, hope you get a libertarian judge. If you can hire Mr Hur to write the investigative report you have a chance.

      • creech

        “I’m an old woman. I was confused!”

      • rhywun

        I still hear it in the voice of Uncle Leo even after today’s news.

    • Sensei

      Claim you are Sovereign Citizen.

      (Sorry, the court part really sucks.)

      • Rat on a train

        I was travelling not driving!

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        I was on a journey, to use one of this month’s annoying words.

    • Rat on a train

      All-day or flashy light school zone?

      • Mojeaux

        Flashy light.

      • DEG

        Sorry Mojeaux.

        The flashing light for a school zone near me has been broken for about a week. It’s on all the time. Yesterday I drove past the broken, always on sign, and didn’t slow down until after the sign when I saw the crossing guard walk out into the road.

      • R C Dean

        I’m always extra cautious around schools, regardless of the time of day, crossing guards, whatever. You’re just way more likely to see kids around schools at any time than just about anywhere else.

    • DrOtto

      If you were in TX and it was laser, I could suggest a strategy as long as you didn’t rat yourself out to the cop.

      • Mojeaux

        He didn’t give me a chance to speak at all, which was a blessing, I guess. I get chatty when I’m nervous. He told me what I did, asked for my insurance and license, how serious it was, took my license back to his car. It took about 5 minutes, and he was back giving me my thermal-printed citation/summons to my arraignment. Told me it wasn’t a ticket that could be paid and to slow down, especially in school zones.

        I’ve contacted my lawyer (yeah, I know a few) and just said I have a court date and I’d appreciate it if he went with me.

        Honestly, the thing that shocked me most was that it didn’t take 20 minutes like it has in the past. My husband asked me when the last time I got a ticket was, and it was … 23 years ago, for not wearing a helmet on my motorcycle.

  10. kinnath

    Man who controls the nuclear football will not be tried for mishandling classified document because he has mush for brains and a jury won’t convict him.

    • Sensei

      Is that problematic? He’s got people.

      • kinnath

        Lambchop had more brains that the current puppet in charge of the US.

    • juris imprudent

      “Remain calm, all is well.”

    • bacon-magic

      Listen Jack, my son’s dog Crackalackin’ guarded that garage every night! That’s the facts!

    • The Other Kevin

      Even better, he had mush for brains 10 years ago. Apparently that goes away with age.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Apparently that goes away with age.

        Yeah, it hardens up and turns into plaque.

  11. The Late P Brooks
    • Mojeaux

      Why are people who are supposed to deal in reality worried about self-discipline?

      • Sensei

        What, no sex before marriage?

        Same question.

      • creech

        ? A (((colleague))) told me it was “no sex after marriage.”

    • Certified Public Asshat

      I think when that big 4chan leak happened?

      But still a great article, if you are not jacking it to porn 24/7 you might be a RW extremist.

    • Nephilium

      Kellogg hardest hit.

    • Bobarian LMD

      a set of unproven claims that not masturbating confers social and health benefits.

      I think Jeffery Toobin provided some proof against the counter-argument?

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Well you won’t go blind, for one.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        He proves there is no social benefit at least.

    • Cunctator

      —“a set of unproven claims that not masturbating confers social and health benefits.”—

      Health benefits. I don’t know. Maybe?
      Social benefits. In order to get the social benefits, do I have to walk around telling people I didn’t masturbate today?

  12. creech

    Dr.Jill needs to gather her colleagues and stage an intervention for Brandon.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    SCIENCE

    A UK-based nuclear fusion collaboration just produced a record amount of energy, a refreshing dose of good news in humankind’s quest for cleaner energy sources. The Joint European Torus facility, or JET, produced just over 69 megajoules of heat.

    A brief distillation of nuclear fusion: It is a reaction by which atomic nuclei fuse, turning into a new element while at the same time producing a huge amount of energy. It is a cleaner process than nuclear fission, its evil twin, which generates energy (and a sizable amount of waste) by splitting atoms. Nuclear fusion is the same reaction that powers stars like our Sun, and for decades scientists have tried to make the reaction energy efficient on Earth.

    If fusion should by some miracle be proved feasible, there will be a clamor to ban it.

  14. Derpetologist

    oopsy

    ***
    The American-made Patriot missile system is likely responsible for the Russian Il-76 plane crash, American officials anonymously told The New York Times. The plane was also likely carrying at least some Ukrainian prisoners, officials reported.

    Russia’s Il-76 military transport plane crashed in the country’s Belgorod region on Jan. 24, allegedly killing everyone on board.

    The cause of the crash is unclear, with Russia claiming that Ukraine’s military shot the plane down as it carried 65 Ukrainian POWs. Kyiv has demanded an international probe into the incident.

    Ukraine’s military intelligence agency did not confirm whether prisoners were on the plane nor have they commented on what might have caused the crash.
    Ukrainian officials did reveal that a prisoner exchange had been planned for that day.

    Ukrainian military sources told Ukrainska Pravda that the plane was carrying S-300 missiles, regularly used by Russia to strike Kharkiv Oblast.
    ***

    dishonesty during war from military sources!?

    I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.

    • Derpetologist

      I should add that US spy satellites can detect the muzzle flash of an AK. They know damn well when a missile is fired and by whom.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Oh… uhh, we weren’t lookin’ that way when it happened…

        I bet it was them guys what blew up the pipeline.

    • creech

      Shit happens in war. There are a number of WW2 incidents of U.S. subs sinking Jap transports filled with U.S. prisoners of war.

      • Derpetologist

        ***
        On 15 August 1943 an invasion force of 34,426 Canadian and American troops landed on Kiska. Castner’s Cutthroats were part of the force, but the invasion consisted mainly of units from the 7th Infantry Division. The force also included about 5,300 Canadians, mostly from the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 6th Canadian Infantry Division, and the 1st Special Service Force, a 2,000-strong Canadian-American commando unit formed in 1942 in Montana and trained in winter warfare techniques. The force included three 600-man regiments: the 1st was to go ashore in the first wave at Kiska Harbor, the 2nd was to be held in reserve to parachute where needed, and the 3rd was to land on the north side of Kiska on the second day of the assault.[21][22] The 87th Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division, the only major U.S. force specifically trained for mountain warfare, was also part of the operation.

        The invaders landed to find the island abandoned; the Japanese forces had left two weeks earlier. Under the cover of fog, the Japanese had successfully removed their troops on 28 July. Despite US military command having access to Japanese ciphers and having decoded all the Japanese naval messages, the Army Air Forces chose to bomb abandoned positions for almost three weeks. The day before the withdrawal, the US Navy fought an inconclusive and possibly meaningless Battle of the Pips 80 mi (70 nmi; 130 km) to the west.

        Although the Japanese troops had gone, Allied casualties on Kiska numbered 313. They were the result of friendly fire, booby traps, disease, mines, timed bombs set by the Japanese, vehicle accidents, or frostbite. Like Attu, Kiska offered an extremely hostile environment.[23]
        ***

        cue Monty Python theme

      • B.P.

        313 casualties against no one. That sounds like a Niki Haley primary.

      • Derpetologist

        [golf clap]

        Haley now claims Trump rigged the Nevada primary.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Looks a lot like the old Honda Trail 90.

      My Uncle had a Honda Trail 70 that I probably put 200 miles on in a long weekend in the high desert north of Lancaster CA.

      Slow as hell, but would keep going forever.

    • KSuellington

      Awesome. I’m currently in the market for its big brother, the Honda CRF450rl. It’s basically a dirt bike with plates. I can’t wait to get one and start riding some trails.

  15. The Other Kevin

    I listened to some of the SC arguments about Colorado taking Trump off the ballot. Even the liberal justices were pushing back. It might be a unanimous decision. They know our country is already broken, but allowing each state to take candidates off the ballot like this would be the end. To me it seems the SC actually takes their jobs seriously.

  16. DEG

    The new calculations suggest that Mimas has an ice shell roughly 20 to 30 kilometers thick, followed by a 70-kilometer-deep ocean and a solid rocky core.”

    I’m reminded that in the “2001: A Space Odyssey” novel the mission went to Iapetus, a moon of Saturn. Not to Jupiter as in the movie. Clarke changed to use Jupiter when he wrote “2010”.

  17. Grumbletarian

    “We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote in the report.

    What kind of monster would send Mr. Magoo to jail anyway?

    • DEG

      He’s not going to jail.

      I think it’s setting up a 25th amendment switcheroo.

      • DEG

        Heh

    • R C Dean

      Of course, there’s no way Biden is going to waive the Fifth and get on the witness stand in his own criminal trial, which makes this particular reason to let him walk particularly risible.

      I do like the “elderly man with a poor memory” dig, though.

    • B.P.

      If that jury were seated in DC, this is correct.

  18. Grumbletarian

    ‘DEATH STAR’ MOON MAY HARBOR HIDDEN OCEAN:

    Isn’t that like the third or fourth such moon now? Most of those moons are just masses of old comets large enough to clump together in a spherical shape with the dust and rock sunk to the bottom, forming the core, and so much ice that the frozen crust compresses and heats the rest into a liquid.

  19. The Gunslinger

    Looks like Mann won his defamation suit against Steyn and Simberg. Steyn’s most recent article has an update.

    UPDATE! The Verdict: Mann wins.

    https://www.steynonline.com/14082/closing-arguments

    This trial has pretty much bankrupted and likely killed Mark Steyn.

    • DEG

      Fuck.

      • DEG

        $1 million

        Full article behind a paywall, but there’s enough not behind the wall.

      • Sensei

        +1

    • Grumbletarian

      JFC. Question “The Science” at your own peril.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    UPDATE! The Verdict: Mann wins.

    Did the judge stipulate the incontestable truth of global warming and any and all of Mann’s claims, at the beginning of the trial?

    • The Gunslinger

      The judge reprimanded Mann’s attorneys on several occasions. They entered false numbers into evidence on claims of lost grants. Shown as $9 million and later changed to $112k in lost grant. In closing arguments Mann’s attorney tried to make the case about climate change denial being like election denial. Steyn objected along with Simberg’s attorney and the judge told the jury this is a defamation case. Based on reports I listened to the jury was late arriving every day of the trial. Like 30-60 minutes late.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The American civil court system and processes are broken and need to be dissolved in a metaphorical acid bath.

  21. DEG

    Impotence prevention?

    Regular erections may be key for maintaining an active sex life into old age, according to research.

    Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University in Sweden found that cells called fibroblasts have a previously unknown and very important role to play in regulating blood flow in the penis.

    Their findings highlighted an intriguing cycle: when a man becomes aroused, fibroblasts in the genitals help to widen blood vessels – leading to a longer-lasting erection.

    Importantly, they discovered that the more erections a man has, the more fibroblasts were available to help prolong future intimate moments.

    • R.J.

      Fibroblast is a great album name.

  22. Gender Traitor

    If you have a couple of hours to kill: Tucker & Vlad. [Disclaimer: I have not listened to it and don’t know if/when I will. Submitted FYI.]

    • Derpetologist

      I got the time. I’ll watch and summarize it.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Will listen now…much appreciated.

    • Derpetologist

      I’ll do a running summary and commentary.

      TC asks why Putin invaded Ukraine and made a reference to Putin’s speech before the invasion. In that speech Putin alleged the war was necessary to prevent a surprise attack from the US and NATO. Putin then speaks for about a fourth of the interview about the history of Russia starting in 862. He said that the first Russian state broke up a few hundred years after it formed, and that Kyiv and thus Ukraine was part of that first Russian state. Later, Ukraine under the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was forcibly de-Russified and the Orthodox church was suppressed.

      • Derpetologist

        Later in the 1650s, Russia regained control of Ukraine from Poland. Rival empires like Austria began fomenting Ukrainian nationalism in order to take it out of Russia orbit but were never able to conquer it. The borders stayed about same until the Russian Revolution, and the Bolsheviks in order to end the Russian Civil War returned a measure of autonomy to Ukraine. After WW2, Poland received land from Germany even though its government had collaborated with the Nazis after being defeated in 1939. The borders of Ukraine as a Soviet republic were changed to enlarge it.

        my comment: The borders of Ukraine when it regained independence in 1992 included lands that belonged to Russia historically. So many Russians see that the breakup of the USSR as a raw deal because a great deal of territory that was historically Russian was lost. Similar things happened after the break-up of the Ottoman Empire via the Sykes-Picot treaty and when the former colonies in Africa became independent. In that time, African leaders decided to accept borders drawn by Europeans to avoid conflict. That consensus broke down a few times later, most notably in Sudan.

    • Mojeaux

      Vlad

      Me: THE IMPALER!!!

      Also me: Oh, wait.

      • Derpetologist

        Vlad = ruler/commander/owner, command

        Vladimir = ruler of the world

        Vladivostok = command of the east

        Vladikavkaz = command of the Caucasus

        Vladislav = owner of glory, famous

    • Derpetologist

      The USSR offered to join NATO in 1954 not long after it formed. It did so in a bid to keep West Germany neutral. After the breakup of the USSR, again Russia offered to join NATO. They were rejected again, and NATO expanded eastward five times.

    • Derpetologist

      Russia offered to work with the US to build a joint missile defense system. The stated purpose of the US system was to defend against missiles from Iran, but for some reason all the missile defense bases were built in new NATO members in eastern Europe. Many Russians saw this as a ruse to construct a first-strike missile system.

      • Derpetologist

        Russia began constructing hypersonic missiles to counter the US missile defense system based in eastern Europe.

    • Derpetologist

      Part of the deal that gave Ukraine its independence in 1992 stipulated that it would be neutral, which is why it also gave up the Soviet nuclear weapons based there and returned them to Russia.

    • Derpetologist

      Ukraine started attacking pro-Russian separatists in Donbas in 2014. Later that year, Russia annexed Crimea, a region of Ukraine which heavily and historically Russian.

      The Russian separatists started when the pro-Russian government of Ukraine was overthrown in the so-called Orange Revolution, which was in fact a coup fomented by the CIA.

    • Derpetologist

      On de-Nazifying Ukraine:

      ***
      Bandera negotiated with the Nazis to create the Ukrainian National Army and the Ukrainian National Committee in March 1945.[6] After the war, Bandera settled with his family in West Germany. In 1959, Bandera was assassinated by a KGB agent in Munich.[7][8]

      Bandera remains a highly controversial figure in Ukraine.[9] Many Ukrainians hail him as a role model hero,[10][11] or as a martyred liberation fighter,[12] while other Ukrainians, particularly in the south and east, condemn him as a fascist,[13] or Nazi collaborator,[10] whose followers, called Banderites, were responsible for massacres of Polish and Jewish civilians during World War II.[14][15] On 22 January 2010, Viktor Yushchenko, the then president of Ukraine, awarded Bandera the posthumous title of Hero of Ukraine, which was widely condemned. The award was subsequently annulled in 2011 given that Stepan Bandera was never a Ukrainian citizen.[16] Bandera gained further prominence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[17][18][19]
      ***

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Problem solved

    The Federal Communications Commission ruled on Thursday that robocalls using voices generated by artificial intelligence are illegal, amid concerns over how the cutting-edge technology is being used to scam people and deceive voters.

    “Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members, imitate celebrities, and misinform voters,” FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “We’re putting the fraudsters behind these robocalls on notice.”

    That’s that.

    • creech

      End robocalls by charging 25 cents per call plus 10 cents for every minute a savvy target simply puts the phone down and doesn’t disconnect.

  24. Suthenboy

    Quick one before I go to bed. I couldn’t stick around last thread so I will drop this one.
    RC, if. you are still there someone shooting at you being only potential harm thus preventing you from legally using lethal force in your own defense is a non-starter. Someone shows clear intent to kill me and actively takes steps to do so, what am I supposed to do? Wait until they kill me before defending myself?
    That approach nullifies justified use of force in self defense, an untenable position.
    Now, I am off again. You kids play nice.

    • R C Dean

      Oh, I agree. I think it poses the dilemma of the purist position (don’t outlaw risky behavior, only outlaw actual harm) very nicely.

      If the law is to take no notice of risky behavior or potential harm, how do you justify self-defense before you are actually harmed? i think you could try to go with a distinction based on intent – the law will take notice of risky behavior that is intended to cause harm. But I do recall a fair amount of complaining about “mind-reading” by cops, prosecutors, etc.

  25. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    I don’t feel good and I need someone to bring me bland foods and take the dog out kthx.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      😭

      • Derpetologist

        Tears are the mental equivalent of sweat. There is no need to hide or avoid them.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        I’m in whiny babby mode because my tummy has been hurting since 1am

  26. Derpetologist

    Ukraine: running out men and missiles; most battalions are at 25% strength or less.

    What great idea fomenting this war was. Good job, every president from Bush 1 to Biden except Trump. And all their bumbling, clueless lackeys too.

    • creech

      But 30 F-16s from Netherlands is going to give them air superiority and victory! You know who else thought he could beat the Russians?

      • Sean

        Apollo Creed?

      • Derpetologist

        Kramer while playing Risk with Costanza?

      • R C Dean

        The Japanese Navy?

      • Derpetologist

        King Charles XII of Sweden?

      • Derpetologist

        Lord Cardigan?

      • creech

        I was thinking Bobby Fischer.

      • R C Dean

        Also, the Afghanis.

        Not to mention, of course, Genghis Khan.

      • R C Dean

        Oh, and Kaiser Wilhelm.

      • Rat on a train

        Napoleon?

      • Derpetologist

        the Safavid dynasty?

  27. Suthenboy

    Morning all.
    Gonna putter around in the house today. It will likely rain some and I got my brick patio finished yesterday so y’all will have to put up with me off and on all day today.
    I regret not being able to pay more attention to RC’s article yesterday. It goes to the heart of tort and the divide between that and criminal.