As The Flash Point Nears

As the flash point induced by all the calls: to general mayhem and violence, to kill people not toeing the line, to kill judges for judging, to drive SUVs into crowds that smell like diversity, to spray peaceful gatherings with vast magazines of 223 caliber bullets that tumble when they enter flesh and blood and can be dispersed with automatic weapon rapidity, to honor, worship and obey the fuhrer, and to kill all who don't, and to just plain get on with bugaloo, I am reposting this poem and comments I originally offered as satire.

I am re-posting it today, now that we see the post Constitution lay of the land with its attendant prediction of imminent reality.

It is, sadly, no longer satire.

MAGA got their election.

But they are not getting their expected place in the scheme of things.

As donnie is going to discover, when you unleash the sort of hate and horror that he has unleashed, the horror only grows and feeds on itself, the hate justifies self-feeding violence and it grows and grows until it ultimately and catastrophically plays itself out, and nothing is left to fight over.

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Originally posted 16 August 2022

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Of Course, I expect all who read this to realize it is total irony, and the fact is that in another, related post I said I might write this poem. donnie is a clear and present danger and his devil's spawn are going to bring the "rest of us" down such that we end up no better off than Afghanistan.  

 Blood and gore;

Let’s have a war;

Attack, attack;

And don’t look back;

They’re after donnine;

Not Louie or Johnny;

The gauntlet’s down;

Across the town;

And all over this whole great country;

So get your guns;

Get you knives;

Kiss your kids;

Kiss your wives;

And let’s all take back this country:

From the wimps;

From the queers;

From the blacks;

 And send out jeers;

To all those who would try to stop us;

Be sure to be loud and raucous;

About how we won’t be replaced;

And we won’t ever be chased;

Out of this place;

That we created;

With our white male christian toil and sweat;

And we will never let;

The other take it from us;

So:

Blood and gore;

Let’s have a war;

Attack, attack;

And don’t look back;

It’s our destiny;

For you and me;

Let’s bring this whole thing down

Around our ears.

Maybe The Democrats Should Do An End Run

 I recently saw AOC deliver the keynote address of the AOC and Bernie show.

It was good; it was a stemwinder; she obviously has a future in politics beyond the House.

But other than "get mad; act up; don't put up with this shit" there wasn't much tangible content there.

And when the masses leave the sun-drenched venues of brief Brigadoon-like manifestations of firebrand speeches from AOC and Bernie, and return to their dismal homes, jobs and families, past their MAGA lawn signs and expended 223 cartridges, scattered hither and yon, they turn on Fox and get back in the traces.

I think, without any research or evidence, that a meaningful tweak to the AOC/Bernie Format might deliver electoral success.

It needs an acronym; it needs a portable delivery medium; it needs - not many -  huge and rememberable calls to action.

Here's a snappy acronym.

V
M
R

Identify a Villain.

Explain their Malfeasance.

Demand Restitution.

For example, Big Oil looks to be a prime candidate.

From The Guardian: "The oil and gas industry has delivered $2.8bn (£2.3bn) a day in pure profit for the last 50 years, a new analysis has revealed."

I had a sense that that is a number so big that it might test my ability to comprehend it.

But I tried.

To comprehend it.

Here's what my calculator came up with.

I think that that is 51 trillion one hundred billion dollars.

Not a trivial sum.

Remember: that is profit, not revenue.

That got me to wondering what the US government has spent on average each year over the last fifty.

That turns out to be about 2.1 trillion dollars a year.

Toted up over fifty years, that's 105 trillion dollars.

We can't afford a first world health care safety net; we can't afford universal childcare; we can't afford free post-secondary education; we can't afford universal long term health care.

So we are told.

But we have one industry that is less than ten percent of our economy (it's 7.6%) generating profits amounting to about half of the US annual budget.

So, does Big Oil pay any taxes on all that money?

Some oil companies publicly state they pay around 35% in taxes, but financial analyses show their actual payments are far lower.

A recent report found that not a single major oil company paid the full 21% corporate tax rate.

Some companies, like Hess Corporation and Marathon Oil, paid $0 in federal income taxes despite making billions in profits.

Others, like APA Corporation and EQT Corporation, paid less than 1% in federal taxes.

So, let's get crackin'; let's call for action. 

Let's tax them at 35%.

And let's get, for all of us:

• Universal Health Care
• Free College
• Free High Quality Child Care
• Free Long Term Health Care

A good start: the rest is to be determined.

Here is the portable message delivery device that we hand out at all the spellbinding and stem-winding rallies that AOC, Bernie, and all other aspirers to leadership can muster over the next 42 months:

That's the message; that's the speech; it can be repeated incessantly by all of us - it's easy to remember; it's easy to want to do; it's the right thing to do - and it's a portal to a way out of our current grim plight into a decent future.

Finally.

And if this seems stupid, and if it seems extreme, always remember and never forget, this is politics, not economics; and it's one letter less than MAGA, so it's easier to remember.

donnie Announces A Deal With Nissan

Today donnie went to West Mifflin in Pennsylvania and announced a "blockbuster deal" with Nissan.

donnie meant Nippon; he gets pretty confused around complex Japanese words.

Anyway, there's this blockbuster deal.

That's pretty much all we know; the rest is secret; if anybody tells they get deported.

Even so, the heavy thoughts on the street say that it's the same deal donnie opposed a few weeks back.

Now that his various overnight peace deals are all proving to be illusions - hallucinations even - he's looking in the old-deal dustbin and exhuming whatever he can find, announce and obfuscate.

Of those, Nissan looked pretty good, so donnie went to Mifflin.

The one thing known about the Nissan deal is that it involves only partial ownership by the Japanese company, whatever its name is.

I looked into that and, surprisingly, donnie isn't lying.

The deal involves two partial ownerships: partial one is Nippon and partial two is Nippon.

Or maybe it's Nissan.

 

It Was Foggy That Evening

 

Headlines From A Random Walk 052825

President Donald Trump issued a new ultimatum to Canada on Tuesday, saying it can either pay $61 billion to be covered by the proposed U.S. "Golden Dome" missile defense system—or become the 51st state and get access to it free of charge.

RFK Jr. says he may bar scientists from publishing in top medical journals

California track star's family reacts to Trump shaking up girls' championship meet amid trans athlete drama

Trump pardoned a tax cheat. But only after his mom attended president’s $1 million dinner

Cost of Trump's meet-and-greets skyrockets in latest MAGA money-making scheme

Opinion: What Do We Even Call Our Current Trump Catastrophe?

How Far Apart Do Soakers Need To Be Placed To Be Effective?

In a world that has devolved into something so simple that it's terminally boring: a 24-hour stream of inane, irrational, moronic and, sometimes, tactically coy assertions, mostly lies, coupled and intermingled artfully, tit for tat, with policy statements clearly concocted by the Heritage Foundation, my mind wanders to important questions.

I thank Bill Gates for Copilot.

Copilot always has the answer.

To the important questions that we all have these days.

This morning I hear that donnie is shutting down Harvard, and most of the US' top Universities - including University of Pennsylvania where donnie's father paid a guy to get donnie's degree for him (probably a good reason to shut it down).

I have heard, but can't verify, that unless Harvard erects puts up a solid gold statue of donnie in Harvard yard, Kristie Nome gets to shoot down Harvard's President in the yard; one wonders how that is going to help donnie in his mad pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ho Hum.

Here is today's question of importance.

Noel: On a soaker sprinkler installation, how close to the seeds or plants does the soaker hose need to be to be effective?

Copilot: Great question! The placement of a soaker hose depends on the type of plants and soil composition. Generally, for annual plants, the hose should be 12-18 inches apart to ensure proper moisture distribution. For perennial beds, spacing can be a bit wider, around 18-24 inches apart.

If you're working with raised beds, a common setup is running a single soaker hose down the center of a 3-foot-wide bed, but if you have multiple rows, spacing the hoses about 18 inches apart can help ensure even watering. Soil type also plays a role—denser soils may require closer spacing to allow water to penetrate effectively.

Would you like tips on optimizing water efficiency or setting up an automatic timer for your system? 

No, thank you.

I'm going to go lie down in the freeway.

donnie And The Constitution

 

Coffee Spatters Explained

Noel: When I refresh a cup of coffee, I am careful to put the spout of the pot fairly close to the surface of the coffee in the cup to avoid the stream of coffee being accelerated excessively by extra elevation from the cup, thus causing overflow. 

Nonetheless, I get spatters of coffee bouncing out from the close, slowly flowing stream of incoming coffee. 

Has that to do in some manner with surface tension or temperature differential between the cooler coffee in the cup and the hotter coffee from the pot?

Copilot: Ah, the physics of coffee pouring—deceptively simple yet surprisingly complex! What you’re describing likely involves a combination of factors, including surface tension, temperature differential, and even fluid dynamics.

1. Surface Tension: The cooler coffee already in the cup has a stable surface, but when you pour in hotter liquid, it disrupts this equilibrium. Surface tension holds the coffee together momentarily, but the force of the incoming stream can create small disturbances that cause droplets to splash outward.

2. Temperature Differential: The hot coffee from the pot rapidly heats the cooler coffee in the cup upon contact. This sudden temperature change can lead to localized expansion or subtle turbulence, causing tiny jets or bubbles to form—potentially ejecting small droplets.

3. Fluid Dynamics: Even if poured gently, the new coffee alters the movement of the liquid already in the cup. Small waves or eddies form as the new coffee integrates with the old. If the incoming stream breaks the surface in an uneven way, it can create a cascading effect that leads to spattering.

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In a world that has devolved into something so simple that it's terminally boring: a 24-hour stream of inane, irrational, moronic and, sometimes, tactically coy assertions, mostly lies, coupled and intermingled artfully, tit for tat, with policy statements clearly concocted by the Heritage Foundation, my mind wanders to important questions.

I thank Bill Gates for Copilot.

Copilot always has the answer.

To the important questions that we all have these days.

Noah Was Out On The Water Today

 

Just Wait Until donnie Sees This One

 

Dazzle The Rubes With Technology

 Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for defrauding investors in her startup, which falsely claimed to revolutionize blood testing. 

Holmes had convinced investors that Theranos' technology could detect numerous diseases from just a few drops of blood, but the technology never actually worked.

It was a sort of assertion as opposed to being a technology.

An assertion is some text dreamed up by a talented marketer, and the text, once dreamed up, becomes a substitute in the marketplace for an actual technology.

Ms. Holmes found to her ultimate chagrin that the marketplace, in the end, wants assertions to become facts.

So she's in jail.

In the meantime, Billy Evans, Elizabeth Holmes' partner, has launched a blood-testing startup called Haemanthus, which is named after a flower also known as the blood lily. 

The company is marketing itself as “the future of diagnostics” and claims to have developed a machine that uses AI directed lasers to analyze blood, saliva, and urine samples to detect diseases like cancer and infections.

The assertion this time has two incomprehensible technologies deployed: lasers and AI.

That's a good move: it can take years and years to tune an AI driven laser.

Just to obfuscate it to the hilt I suggest they add a third technology to the assertion: quantum entanglement.

That way when the thing doesn't work they can say it's working but it's in another dimension.

Paris Still Life With Vodka

 

Looks like a Bloody Mary to me, though.

A Curious Confluence: Revelation Of The Obvious

From Space.com, a snippet:

"Spruce trees retain ancient memories of their environment and communicate with one other in the hours preceding a solar eclipse, a new international study suggests.

We now see the forest not as a mere collection of individuals, but as an orchestra of phase correlated plants," Alessandro Chiolerio, Italian Institute of Technology and University of the West of England, and the study co-leader, said in a statement.

An interdisciplinary team consisting of researchers from Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and Australia built custom sensors and placed them across a forest in the Dolomite mountains in Italy. Using the sensors, the team recorded simultaneous bioelectrical responses from the spruce trees."

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The rest of this is at least as interesting, but the essence of it is in these few words, so I am going to move on to my real purpose.

My son sent me a link to this article because we are both interested in nonstandard views of how things happen.

Here is what I emailed him in response.

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"I've been seeing news items like this about trees, off and on, for several years now.

The first time I read one a shiver ensued.  

It sounded so much like Tolkien talking about the Ents that it could have been from The Hobbit and the Trilogy.

An equally chilling experience - for me - was the first time I heard a discussion of string theory.

It sounded like the opening chapter of Silmarillion.

But, back to the trees.  

I have recently heard of similar studies that document flowers stepping up nectar production when bees are in the area.  

Apparently the flowers sense the vibrations from the bees' wings. 

Didn't somebody make a movie about that, except with papillon wings? 

A recent episode of The Wild spent the entire podcast talking about multiple studies that will yield an AI framework that will give us detail on the structure of non-human (animal) language.  

Note that it wasn't "if" there is one; it was "what" is its structure.  

The summary was that we're about five years away from having it, but that, when had, we won't know what it means because, unlike human languages, including ancient Egyptian (Rosetta Stone) we don't have a clue about the vocabulary.  

But we'll have the framework.

Maybe AI will give us the vocabulary.  

When I wrote The Cream Soup Spoon I did it because the Ouija had started talking to me.  

But I kept writing even when she - Ouija - periodically abandoned me, due to my belief that the only reason cats don't pay any attention to some human words and know exactly what others mean and have personal, unique and variable reactions to them is because they only learn stuff that interests them, or things that relate to their happiness or their perceived well-being.  

I spent a bunch of pages telling a story about the confluence of all of the above with human arrogance."

The Mara Lago Captivity: Several Mixed And Strained Allusions

Gonna be interesting.

Just like during the Avignon papacy we have two popes - back then they even had three for a while.

Pope macdonald lives in florida; will he capture Leo and make him live in Florida like Philip the Fair did to Clement back in 1309?

Big Trade Deal With UK

Based on the fact that trade representatives of His Majesty's Government's didn't throw their American counterparts out of their office recently, the current US Regime has announced "the greatest deal in history; a big, beautiful deal; amazing and stupendous".  

Details are thought to be forthcoming.

Just The Ticket

 

Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts lays down the law on judiciary power in veiled swipe at Trump

Boy, if I were donnie, I'd be really scared.

Roberts is wielding power like Chuck Schumer; maybe he can get some half lens glasses and really go rogue.

a lot going on here