General Flynn is trying to blackmail people!

So, I saw this posted elsewhere today.

General Flynn is trying to blackmail people!

Quote:

A Republican Senate candidate alleged over the weekend that Michael Flynn, the retired general and former national security adviser, has sought damaging information on elected officials in a number of states, with the apparent goal of blackmailing them into supporting conspiratorial election audits meant to reinforce Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

Even just a few years ago, I would have dismissed this as obvious nonsense. But now? Eh, why not. Could we have long last found an actual conspiracy?!?

But seriously, it has all the hallmarks of the old style CT nonsense. Namechecks a well-know person, uses his own "Private Intelligence" firm as a source, claims to have evidence like recordings, but doesn't seem to actually publish that evidence, claims the Government knows about it, even though there's been no public actions relating to this by the government.

Also tosses in things that don't make that much sense: "he was told to "accomplish the mission even if you have to use domestic terrorism."" How does terrorism help you blackmail people? Are they just going to off them if they don't have enough dirt on them?

But then there's this:

Quote:

Stern said he was moved to expose Flynn's alleged plot out of a moral imperative — something he said he was also familiar with as a corporate whistleblower at HSBC, where he exposed the bank's billion-dollar money laundering scheme. The case ended with a $1.92 billion fine against HSBC.

So, apparently this guy actually has blown the lid off a major scandal in the past, which suggests he's not nuts. But he certainly sounds nuts. I mean, he called his "private intelligence company" "Tactical Rabbit", for god's sake.....

Oh, and he would totally have had an actual meeting with Flynn himself, if his pesky lawyers hadn't warned him not to do that!

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3brhH6D

97-Year-Old Billionaire Doubles Down on Window-Less Mega-Dorm Vanity Project

97-Year-Old Billionaire Doubles Down on Window-Less Mega-Dorm Vanity Project

Quote:

Billionaire-turned-amateur-architect Charlie Munger seems to have no qualms about building a mostly windowless mega-dorm for thousands of students at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “This is not some crazy idea,” the 97-year-old Berkshire Hathaway investor insisted to The Washington Post after a firestorm erupted this week over his eyebrow-raising design.

Yes it is.

Quote:

Plans for the 11-story, 1.68 million-square-foot project attracted fierce criticism after the Santa Barbara Independent and student-run Daily Nexus newspaper reported that a consulting architect had quit in protest. The dorm, named Munger Hall, would house 4,500 students in a building with just two entrances, and 94 percent of the rooms would have no windows. Instead, students would be jammed into single-person rooms on pre-fabricated floors with “virtual windows that simulate daylight.”

There's a picture of the design at the link. It looks like a freaking firetrap.

Quote:

Top Los Angeles architect Dennis McFadden, a member of the school’s design review committee for 15 years, quit over what he described as an “outlandish” proposal that ignored basic standards and was approved without proper input. “An ample body of documented evidence shows that interior environments with access to natural light, air, and views to nature improve both the physical and mental wellbeing of occupants,” he wrote in a letter, obtained by the Santa Barbara Independent. “The Munger Hall design ignores this evidence and seems to take the position that it doesn’t matter.” He called the plan “unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent, and a human being.” Carla Yanni, an architectural history professor at Rutgers University, told the Post that “the arrogance of the proposal is breathtaking.”

Quote:

“Everybody loves light and everybody prefers natural light. But it’s a game of tradeoffs,” Munger said. “If you build a big square building, everything is conveniently near to everybody in the building. If you maximize the light, you get fewer people in the building.”

And that's a bad thing, how?

tl/dr version: Crazy old man designs insane firetrap, and university values big donation over their students.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/318oEYq

Video proof of El Chupacabra!

IT'S REAL!!!

https://twitter.com/jeffvandermeer/s...90330234445825

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3bq3Aif

Chloe Smith

Not sure if this has made the news outside of Australasia so far, but it's a hot story here, and more so in Oz - 4 yo girl goes missing from a camping ground. A southern hemisphere Madeline McCann.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-...mith/100575154

All the evidence points to abduction, so the outlook is pretty grim.

Predictably, the trolls are at work, accusing the parents of killing her, or being complicit in some way. And in another shade of the McCann story, not looking sad enough.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/inv...AI2K6A6ATTQHE/

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3w1wxue

TV show Survivor has Embraced racism

I have had a few too many cocktails to make this a coherent rant, but here it is anyway.
Watched this weeks episode of “Survivor” and for those that don’t know it is a reality tv show in the USA. It starts out with teams, called tribes, which must survive with limited supplies and compete in challenges as tribes. The losing tribe has to vote out someone to leave the game. Come the end of the game the voted out players vote for who played the best and wins a million dollars.
It is a complex game of social interaction and is on that level interesting to watch; who can I trust?
An interesting turn happened this week. There comes a point where the tribes merge and the competitions become individual, not team competitions.
What happened this week on the show was the merging of the tribes. What is interesting to me is tha the 2 Black women and the 2 Black men who had little to no interaction before the merge formed an alliance to work together. Quotes, paraphrases from them on the show, note the quotation marks do not mark actual quotes, some are paraphrased, all from the Black participants.
“More than any other season on Survivor, I think season 41 has been the most diverse and most inclusive and representative of America.”
“As people of color there is a shared experience you immediately have this bond, oh your the only one in your classroom that looks like you? Me too.” This ignores the Philippine and the immigrant from Sri Lanka who experienced the same thing. It also ignores the various gender and sexual identity individuals, which are openly part of the participants identities. One actually in episode one objected to one of the show’s stock phrases, “com on in guys” and so guys has been dropped. I don’t care about the drop, as an aside.
Continuing on with the quotes from the forming of this alliance:
“The beauty of having a diverse cast is that it busts your possibilities wide open” but you are in this alliance saying that the possibilities are not open, they are racially constrained.
The immediate grouping and aligning based on race is repugnant to me. The fact that these people are doing so on national TV should be repugnant. There is no hiding in “people of color”; they are excluding other “people of color” and grouping themselves by racial identity. More than that, they think it is a good thing.
“I want us to be on the front page, like look what we did.”
“After this year we need this.”
This is not inclusion. This is racist thought: you share my skin so you share my experience and my beliefs

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2XWn1Me

Illinois Democrats embrace gerrymandering

Honestly, I never want to hear another peep about republicans using gerrymandering to tip the scales again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ap In the neck-and-neck fight to keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats need help from the few places where state lawmakers can make 2022 difficult for Republicans. Illinois Democrats delivered Thursday, using their dominance in state government to advance new congressional district maps intended to eliminate two Republican-held districts and send more Democrats to Washington.

Just look at how they carved up Illinois to gain a two seat advantage. The county I live in is now part of three different districts.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=...AAAAAdAAAAABAD

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...-be-appalling/

https://apnews.com/article/elections...5e9016476ed869

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3jOyjKt

Gravitomagnetic acceleration of spinning disk

Greetings,

Here's my attempt to calculate the gravitomagnetic acceleration of a spinning disk and it's based on solution 2 here:
http://pleclair.ua.edu/ph126/Homework/HW5_SOLN.pdf



Converting the vacuum permittivity:



Converting a magnetic field to a gravitomagnetic field:



Converting to an acceleration:



So for a disk of radius 0.15 m spinning at 12k RPM we'll have the following acceleration vs distance:



So I would like to know if I got this right.


Regards.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2XV4Wya

Mining the Rich Vein of Stupid Ideas

When the Journal of Controversial Ideas came out there were some naysayers who said that it turned out to be a half-hearted collection of half-baked contrarian clap trap.

I believe that I see a way in which we can shut those naysayers up forever and demonstrate the value of this journal by implementing one of the recommendations in it in full.

I am talking, of course, about the paper "The Epistemology of No Platforming: Defending the Defense of Stupid Ideas on University Campuses" in which the author convincingly demonstrates the high value and rich returns attained by debating stupid ideas.

There are some of you who think the last idea I presented here was stupid and if it was, I am happy to have provided that service and you are very welcome.

But since the author of this paper is clearly correct then it is strange that there are so very many stupid ideas and such value to be gained from them then why are we leaving this gold mine untapped?

Yes, I know, Mr Yiannopoulos is speaking at Penn State University and this is obviously a good start, but we can do so much more in putting this rich resource to good use. It can't all be lending the reputation of the University to clapped-out alt-righters hating on the LGBTQ+ community, we have to diversify the stupid.

What about a conference at the University of Chicago to settle the matter of whether or not Australia exists? An important problem you will agree. This conference could not be held in a university in Australia for obvious reasons.

Princeton has already made an admirable contribution to stupid ideas by hosting the PEAR project for nearly 30 years. Sadly I can no longer see the PEAR website linked off of the Princeton site. I suppose they think this vein has been fully exploited.

But we could have the Princeton Seminar on why rockets cannot work in a vacuum. Yale, Harvard or perhaps the London School of Economics could invite a speaker to explain that the global financial system is controlled by Jews who are working towards a New World Order.

I am thinking that the University of California or The University of Chicago would be good venues to present the latest research and evidence on subteranean lizard people due to the strong biology deparments there.

Perhaps Dr Veber's own university would be happy to host the 9/11 Truther series of lectures, in particular no-plane and "north of Citgo flyover" theories. (I feel I know enough about the latter to present it myself).

The good news is that, as the Penn State adminstrators point out, the university cannot stop you presenting an idea at their institution no matter how stupid the idea you are presenting.

The bad news is that, of course, it costs money to have an event hosted at a university. But then I have been impressed at the amount of money that can be generated on a plausible looking web site with a "Donate" button. I am thinking that there should be an organisation formed to coordinate this project with a professional looking web site, perhaps the Institute of Anomalous Ideas and an accompanying Journal of Anomalous Ideas (I hope the name isn't taken).I was going to use "Journal of Stupid Ideas" but this would obviously lead to confusion with the journal in which I encountered this idea).

The Institute would need an Executive Director with chiselled good looks and a proven track record of presenting stupid ideas.

With the right strategy I think that we can boost free speech and make the word "University" synonymous with "Stupid Idea"


Well there it is. If you think this is a stupid idea then, again, you are very welcome.

(Posted in Philosophy and Religion since the author of this terrific and not stupid idea is a philosopher and theologian).

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2ZuaHmT

What Science Do You Disbelieve?

Whenever confronted with an anti-vacer, climate change denier, or flat-earther*, I wonder how these folk can embrace what the scientific method has given us, in so many other fields, and just reject the results in this particular field. I have questioned one or two about this, and just been rewarded with gibberish.

Any out there who disbelieve in some branch of science, and would like to tell use about it?


*Can anyone expand on this list?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3mlLunM

Climate Change - no oranges for you

Wales' climate change minister has said that buying fruit and vegetables out of season should be seen as a luxury in future.

Quote:

Buying fruit and vegetables out of season should be seen as a luxury in future, Wales' climate change minister has said. It comes as part of a major new strategy to tackle Wales' carbon footprint and encourage people live more environmentally-friendly lives. People are being asked to cut energy use, drive less and buy local food.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59066167

This makes sense from a carbon footprint perspective but it does make me very sad, not least because the food available in Wales, in season, can be very limited - especially through the winter.

I grew up in Northern England during the 1970s and essentially had the lifestyle she asks us to aspire to. I remember long months of brassicas and root vegetables with a brief period in the summer where there was a greater variety.

They're also calling for greater support for local farmers but that seems to run contrary to advice to consume less meat and animal products

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3vUpHq8

Twitter: more bad than good?

Firstly an admission, I’m only a recent Twitter user with about five tweets in total. I only joined to keep up with covid health updates which Australian government agencies released on Twitter well before any other avenues.

At first I thought “cool, quick, short information”.

And then I started to get alerts of threads (I’m not even sure this is the right word, streams?) that an algorithm thought I might be interested in. So I open them and think it might be a bit like this forum. Some tweets expressing a certain position followed by counter positions. Well this might be sometimes the case, but what I have found almost always is echo chambers of one position with no dissent. And foul, hateful language.

Okay, I might just be unlucky and have missed the reasonable, rational Twitter debates. But maybe not.

So is Twitter worth the time and effort?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3GsUQpD

ANY Geologist in the house?

I found a novel specimen of Quartz Fractured by I believe a fault line, was just wondering what other stones or minerals I might look to find in the Area, since the nearest known Quartz vain is about 150, 300 Mile's away this is an unrecorded and unexplored find, thank you.
Oh all the Fools gold on it devolved in Muric Acid.
Just thought I might find some Colorful rocks.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3GlVQfn

Huma Abedin says she was sexually assaulted by a US senator

Ex-Hillary Clinton aide, Huma Abedin says she was sexually assaulted by a US senator in New York in 2000.

She doesn’t say who….

I think she should.

If the person is still in the Senate or in politics in some other way, I think it is in the public interest to know.

Huma Abedin: Clinton aide details sex assault by US senator https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59059289

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2ZsDbO0

AI Advice-- Not ready for Prime Time?

Scientists Built an AI to Give Ethical Advice, But It Turned Out Super Racist

https://futurism.com/delphi-ai-ethics-racist

One day it will work -- but not yet?

Maybe the problem is that there are no answers? That morality truly is subjective?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3jEThv5

Sudan Coup, or Sitcom Pitch?

Step 1 - seize power in an armed coup
Step 2 - shoot protestors
Step 3 - arrest Prime Minister
Step 4 - release list of new government and judicial appointments

Standard coup really, except for the reasons released by the general in charge.

"We did it to prevent civil war!"

That's ok then.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59052260

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3bdVVDt

Alec Baldwin Conspiracy Theories

This didn't take long, but it never does. I was just browsing the latest Snopes posts.

Halyna Hutchins was assassinated because her next project was a documentary about Hollywood's pedophile underground.

Quote:

On October 24, 2021, a fake news article was published claiming that Hutchins was scheduled to make a documentary about Hollywood pedophile rings

Halyna Hutchins was assassinated because she was about to release information that would lead to Hillary Clinton's arrest.

Quote:

On Oct. 21, 2021, Halyna Hutchins, director of photography on the movie “Rust,” was killed when a prop gun misfired on set. In the days that followed, a rumor was circulated on social media claiming that Hutchins had posted “I have information that will lead to Hillary Clinton’s arrest” on Twitter shortly before her death.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3mek8jm

Austria prepares for a total electricity blackout

According to Spanish mainstream news outlet Ser, (and other not so mainstream ones) Austria is preparing for an inminent and unavoidable power blackout that could happen to the whole of Europe.

https://cadenaser.com/ser/2021/10/24...07_652148.html


https://blackout-news.de/en/news/aus...or-a-blackout/

The Austrian government is preparing its population for a major power outage in the event of a failure in the European power supply. In this way, the country is trying to make its inhabitants aware of the next crisis that, in the words of the Austrian defense minister, Klaudia Tanner, “is a real danger.”

Austria is proactive in the face of the problems that threaten Central Europe, and the country’s Armed Forces have predicted an indefinite power outage. In the words of Minister Tanner, “the question is not if there will be a big blackout, but when.”

[...]

Information campaign
The Austrian Government has launched an information campaign in which, through the media and posters in the streets, it recommends its inhabitants to get enough materials to “survive” the possible blackout: fuel, candles, batteries, food canned and drinking water.

Some Germans have created a website to warn? alarm? other Germans about the issue, seeminly worried by the German government´s inaction:

https://blackout-news.de/en/news/aus...or-a-blackout/


Thoughts? Any Austrians would like to give some more direct info?

I have no idea how likely are blackouts in Europe in the near future, to be honest. I suppose there are safeguards in place, but I´m tempted to do some stocking of non perishable foods and stuff just in case...

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3Gl4qep

Spooky Season

So, with Halloween approaching, we get the usual spate of paranormal stories. Even NPR indulges… This morning’s “1A” show had the second hour on the subject.

First up was a fellow who runs a “spooky” podcast, where he collects ghost and other paranormal stories. His first was a woman who reported waking during the night to the sensation of someone stroking her hair. She dismissed this as a dream. But the next morning, she learned that her fiancé had died during the night, and this was a normal practice for him when they were together.

We’re all familiar with the various ways that such stories can be problematic. His second story was a standard “water witcher” story… And again we all know how that goes.

But, to their credit, they then had a professor from an outfit that studies “anomalistic perception psychology”, who then detailed the various processes that go on to influence such tales, and why people genuinely believe them…. Even though they didn’t happen, or happened in an entirely different context.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3EmEw8f

Bully for Mako

Japan's Princess Mako finally marries commoner boyfriend Kei Komuro

Quote:

Japan's Princess Mako has married her college sweetheart Kei Komuro - thus losing her royal status. Under Japanese law, female imperial family members forfeit their status upon marriage to a "commoner" although male members do not. She also skipped the usual rites of a royal wedding and turned down a payment offered to royal females upon their departure from the family. She is the first female member of the royal family to decline both. The couple are expected to move to the US - where Mr Komuro works as a lawyer - after marriage. The move has drawn inevitable comparisons with British royals Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, earning the newlyweds the nickname "Japan's Harry and Meghan". Like Ms Markle, Mr Komuro has come under intense scrutiny since his relationship with Ms Mako was announced. He was most recently criticised for sporting a ponytail when he returned to Japan. Some tabloid newspapers and social media users felt his hairstyle - seen as unconventional in Japan - was unbecoming of someone set to marry a princess.

A pony tail!! Oh, the cheek!! How dare he not be a bland conformist!! :jaw-dropp

By turning down the payment, which would likely come with strings attached, at least implied if not explicit, she is her own person now. She doesn't owe anything to anyone, including her silence. I'm sure she will find other opportunities in America.

Quote:

There was also a protest on Tuesday against the couple's marriage.

Can you imagine protesting someone else's marriage which is nobody else's concern, especially when she is forgoing the parting payment? Taxpayers don't have to pay for it. I guess that is the price you pay for being royalty: others think that your private life is their concern. She has, in effect, said no thank you to that. I'd rather be my own person than be beholden to you, whatever material benefits that might bring.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3bboCRC

How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975?

Today with multi-core CPUs running at gigahertz speeds attached to gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of disc space, we're well used to running programs that require what would be enormous resources back when mainframes ruled the data centre.

My question is "how much did one second of computer time cost in 1975?" This assumes the program in question is being run on a mainframe from IBM or any of the other manufacturers of the day. Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider: leasing costs, staffing, power and cooling, if the system could run more than one program simultaneously, and how computer time was charged back to the users.

I'm interested to know if anyone on this forum has had experience with this sort of system accounting, and if they can recall some numbers.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3b8hIMK

Wow, Non-avian dinosaur DNA?

This Paper just came out.

Nuclear preservation in the cartilage of the Jehol dinosaur Caudipteryx:jaw-dropp

I guess technically what they really did was use a stain that attaches to threads of chromatin. And it dyed the nuclear area of some de-siliconized cells found in a dinosaur fossil.:eye-poppi

However, apparently they have not gone further to more finely detect DNA base pairs specifically.

I have been told over and over that is completely impossible. The 1/2 life of DNA is just too short for it to last to the dinosaur ages.

But I was also told actual dinosaur tissue of any sort is impossible to last that long too, and there are more and more preserved dinosaur tissues being found all the time now. Mostly cartilage.

So what to think? Is this a new breakthrough? Or will it be yet another false alarm like the last few?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2ZkOrvy

Prediction Number Two, Testimony of Steven Bannon.

When Steve Bannon is forced to Comply with the Congress's January 6th investigation, I predict he will testify that his statements before the Insurrection were about a battle Trump Supporters wanted with BLM and Antifa, not an invasion of the Capital building and Grounds!
Let's just say, a little Birdy told me that and leave it at that, Bannon will make a deal with the DOJ to testify in return for reduced charges, Unless there is something hidden in the White House documents that is Explosive in Nature, that will be his alibi.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3b5iEBt

Apollo 11 1969 1" video reels

Found these 3 1" open reel video tapes with Apollo 11 labels at an auction, grabbed them up immediately. The seller says he got them a few decades ago but doesn't remember anything else.



Each tape holds 1 hour of video and was recorded on an Ampex type A machine. I have yet to play them back to verify if the labels hold true.

What could be on them? Lost television broadcasts? behind the scenes studio footage?! I Love Lucy?

To be updated when I give them a spin!

Attached Images

DSC_1807-HD.jpg (61.2 KB)

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3Grtv7s

Turkey moves to throw out US envoy and nine others

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has ordered 10 ambassadors, including those from the US and France, be declared "persona non grata".

It follows a statement from the envoys calling for the urgent release of activist Osman Kavala.
He has been in jail for more than four years over protests and a coup attempt, although he has not been convicted.

Persona non grata can remove diplomatic status and often results in expulsion or withdrawal of recognition of envoys.
This week's statement on Mr Kavala jointly came from the embassies of the US, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. Seven are fellow Nato allies of Turkey.

The Council of Europe, Europe's main human rights watchdog, has given Turkey a final warning to heed a European Court of Human Rights ruling to free Mr Kavala pending trial.

Addressing a crowd in Eskisehir on Saturday, Mr Erdogan said the ambassadors "cannot dare to come to the Turkish foreign ministry and give orders".
He said: "I gave the necessary order to our foreign minister and said what must be done. These 10 ambassadors must be declared persona non grata at once. You will sort it out immediately."

However, what will happen now remains unclear.


Mr Erdogan said the envoys should either understand Turkey or leave, Turkish media reported.

There has been little response from the ambassadors so far, although the German foreign ministry said the nations involved were in "intensive consultation".
No official notification has been received from Turkish authorities.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59023465

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3Gj31on

CORY Booker, another Amy McGrath?

Do you think Cory Booker has a shot at unsettling Senator Rand Paul, in 20/20 or is he just another Amy McGrath should someone Tougher Run as an Independent?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3juuxph

War/Not War on Christmas

Quote:

Originally Posted by acbytesla (Post 13635573) Then we disagree as I think your evaluation is overblown. Just like the GOP suggesting every year that there is a war on Christmas and that Democrats hate America. There is nothing there there.

I agree that "war" is a bad word for it, but it has become less popular and socially acceptable to celebrate Christmas and more popular and socially acceptable to celebrate "the Holidays". I remember when I was a kid, you used to be able to say to anyone "Merry Christmas". Now the other place I feel comfortable doing that is with my own family and when I am at Church.

One other thing I've noticed is that town and city Christmas trees are referred to as "Holiday trees", yet I never see a town or city Menorah referred to as a "Holiday candle".

So I would say there is a skirmish on Christmas.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3GeE4up

CSICon 2022 - October 20 to 23, 2022

A year from this post shall be the weekend of CSICon 2022! Save the date!

They claim this will be the "Best CSICon, Yet!" I don't know exactly what they mean by that, but I can believe it*.


Anyone else planning to go?

* Just kidding! No, I'm actually quite skeptical of that claim. But, I am willing to see what it's going to be like, for myself.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3m6xdeD

How conservative are young Americans?

I suspect we could see a new conservative movement in the coming decade, with young white men at the helm. I call them the Douchebag Right or the Edgelord Right, the guys deep in internet culture who ran into a PragerU YouTube video or Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, [insert rightwing figure] segment one day which jump-started their shift to the right. Reactionary may be the word I'm looking for.

Many of them are single-issue young men in their 20s and 30s from rural areas or at least have roots in the rural population. They love their guns and gas-guzzling trucks and barbecues and love to take shots at vegans and LGBT activists. It could be confirmation bias, but everywhere I work and on social media and in the general public there seems to be a ton of them. Some of them are nice guys, some of them were my coworkers and supervisors. But on social media they believe the government is poised to confiscate their guns and they desperately want to preserve the privilege of being Proudly Wrong^TM ("don't censor my OPINION!"). They're generally not as religious or interventionist as the generation before them, but they love to use their fathers'/grandfathers' terms "socialism" "communism" "Marxism" to describe anything vaguely socially progressive or different from what they're used to.

How large is this demographic? In a changing nation where whites, especially white men, seem to feel that they are losing their status for whatever reason, they may be worth keeping an eye on. PragerU videos have billions of views combined. Rightwing social media spaces could be this generation's Fox News. And obviously it's not just white men viewing these videos and listening to the podcasts, but I fear they may become a significant voting bloc and the most important force in the increasing radicalization of the American Right.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3G7WDQZ

Hey, who's going to this weekend's Antivaxxer Convention?

Let's get a carpool going!

While COVID still rages, anti-vaccine activists will gather for a big conference

Quote:

The coronavirus pandemic continues to claim thousands of lives a week — mostly people who aren't vaccinated. But that's not stopping a major gathering of anti-vaccine advocates and conspiracy theorists in Nashville, Tenn., this weekend. The event is being orchestrated by Tennessee couple Ty and Charlene Bollinger. They have been labeled as some of the nation's biggest vaccine misinformation superspreaders. "If we're superspreaders, we're superspreaders of the truth," Charlene Bollinger says. "We have countless testimonies of people that are alive today because of our work, and this is straight from heaven. God has put us on this Earth for such a time as this." The Bollingers got their start by promoting unproven alternatives to chemotherapy. Then they cashed in on their DVDs that push falsehoods about vaccines.

The guest list is the usual gang of buttholes and idiots.

Quote:

"Right here in Tennessee, now we've got Candace Owens, we've got Ben Shapiro, Tomi Lahren," she says. "A lot of local freedom fighters."

Quote:

The event's lineup will reflect those political views and feature Donald Trump's son Eric and longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone.

I hope they all get it and croak.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/30N8GCV

Can hyperthermia kill an entire family?

After months of investigation we get: hyperthermia.


https://abc30.com/mariposa-county-fa...rnia/11151063/


So, background, back in August an entire family (plus their dog) were found dead on a hiking trail. All the bodies were at the same spot. Obviously this got everyone's imagination going. Ideas ranged from a freak pocket of poison gas to secret government death ray experiments.

But, for now, the investigation is leaning towards them being inadequately hydrated and succumbing to the 105F heat of the day. Possibly the child went first and they tried to haul it out, then maybe the wife, husband halts there, then passes out too. The dog was tethered to the husband so it was stuck there and eventually went too.

Not as sexy as a nanobot swarm or electromagnetic induced biologic activity cessation but it sounds plausible.

Thoughts?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3B6bo34

Tucker Carlson must think Joe Biden is Caligula

Tucker Carlson Mocks Promotion of Transgender Admiral: ‘How Long Will It Be Before Joe Biden Appoints His Horse to the Supreme Court?’

Quote:

Tucker Carlson reacted to the nation’s first openly transgender four-star officer with unbridled derision on Thursday night and suggested that the Biden administration “has gone crazy.” On Tuesday, Dr. Rachel Levine, the U.S. assistant secretary for health, was sworn in as an admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which responds to public health crises. Levine is the agency’s first woman four-star admiral.

Quote:

“Come on,” he said. “They’re daring you to sit there and not say this is ridiculous. But it is, sorry. It is ridiculous. Sorry, not playing along! But they don’t think it is. And so you have to ask yourself, how long will it be before Joe Biden appoints his horse to the Supreme Court? And when he inevitably does do that, you have to ask, how long will it be until CNN informs us, ‘This is a watershed moment for equine rights. Don’t you dare laugh. That would be a hate crime.'”

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3nhj5OZ

Alec Baldwin fatally shoots crewmember on set of movie with prop gun

She's dead, and somehow the director was hit as well. Treated and released I believe. Whoops, no .. guess he's still in hospital.
Pretty much no details just yet. Freakin' stunning.


.

Sorry... DP is director of photography.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3pnXNSp

Is the clock ticking for Brenda ?

I'm not a big fan of nobility in general and royalty in particular but I have to admit that Queen Elizabeth II is very popular in the UK and seems to have tackled a job I wouldn't have wanted with a high level of public service.

She's 95 and for the first time I can remember has had to cancel an engagement for health reasons and has been admitted to hospital.

Quote:

The Queen spent Wednesday night in hospital for preliminary medical checks and is now back at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has said. The 95-year-old monarch returned from the private hospital in central London at lunchtime on Thursday and is "in good spirits", the palace added. The Queen had cancelled a visit to Northern Ireland on Wednesday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59004426

I expect that Brian (Charles) will be less popular if and when he becomes king. It would be ironic IMO if Charles III were to have the same effect on the monarchy as Charles I.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3E9T4YJ

Pluto, Tyson, Trump, Covid, and another American Revolution

Pluto is returning to where it was in 1776. It's obvious that Dr Tyson "demoted" it to disrupt the astrological portents and forestall another American Revolution. The prophecies were all pointing one way, but now that Pluto is a mere dwarf planet, history has swung the other way. That's why we have a pandemic, instead of four more years of Trump and the advent of the Fourth Reich. Determining whether Dr Tyson and the IAU have done more harm than good with this expedient is left as an exercise for the reader.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3aWTViK

Republican pays liberal activist for finding Republican voter fraud

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, about a year ago, put out a bounty to find verifiable voter fraud. He offered $24k and it turns out he had to pay up. The only problem is it kind of backfired. Per The Dallas Morning News:

Quote:

But instead of going to an informant who smoked out fraud by Democrats, Patrick’s five-figure payout went to a progressive poll worker in Pennsylvania whose tip led to a single conviction of illegal voting by a registered Republican.

Eric Frank was the guy that got the check, props to Patrick for paying up.

Quote:

After Frank provided some documentation, the Patrick campaign sent him a check for $25,000. It was a lot for Frank but a drop in the bucket for No. 2 Republican in Texas, whose campaign coffers are flush with more than $23 million. Ethics expert Andrew Cates said the reward is allowed under Texas law, which restricts personal use of campaign funds — but only by the candidates themselves.

Looks like it'll be game changing money for Frank, which is awesome. It's also a bit awesome that it blew up in Patrick's face.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3B3yzLa

Discourse in Magic Podcast

This mailing list has started showing up in my e-mail (I'm on a bunch of such magic lists): https://discourseinmagic.com/

Quote:

Discourse in Magic is a podcast, website and community for magicians looking to improve. Learn from 250+ episodes and interviews with the best magicians on the planet. Go behind the scenes on exactly what's working (and what's not) in magic today. Our goal is to make your journey through magic - both the business and performing - easier, less frustrating and a lot more fun.

I've listened to the one on Banachek so far: https://discourseinmagic.com/the-tru...with-banachek/

Best advice, "Don't panic".

Quite interesting. ;) And lots more to go.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2XCLeHs

First World War surplus wood used to repair U.S. Capitol

Much of the furnishings of the U.S. capitol were made with mahogany wood - something quite difficult to come by these days. That's a problem because some of those furnishings were damaged during the January 6 attack.

Back during the First World War, the Forest Products Laboratory of the U.S. Forest Service (still in its first decade of existence) did research on the use of different kinds of wood for airplane propellers.

Some of that wood was unused at the time and then remained warehoused (in Wisconsin) for a century, and can now be used for the capitol repairs.

FPL Sends Historic Legacy Mahogany to Help Restore U.S. Capitol

I don't know which is more interesting. The government apparently still has stocks of surplus material from WWI. And, the inventory management is good enough for them to know what's there.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3ndc4P7

Covid - what long term action will you be taking?

At some stage in the near future, the world will return to the way it was, albeit with some form of vaccine passport probably required.

At that time - and in the UK and some other countries already - life will largely return to normal, with no mandates for masks in place. It looks like the majority of people have thrown the masks and are forgetting about Covid, where mandates have been removed.

I know several people who say they will continue to wear a mask after the country re-opens, whereas I definitely won't be if it's not a requirement. I figure that with Covid as an endemic disease, you'd need to take precautions for the rest of your life to avoid it, and that doesn't appeal to me at all.

I will certainly get a booster shot when they're available, but outside of the vaccine, I intend taking no extra precautions for Covid.

Post your personal intention and any mandates if you'd like to see some continue.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3vvk4yN

A very British murder

Quote:

Penelope Jackson, 66, said she hoped ‘bully’ David Jackson, 78, could not be saved, in video shown to Bristol crown court. Part of the recording was released at the conclusion of the prosecution case. Jackson can be heard telling the call handler: “I might go and stab him again.” The call handler asks her not to, and Jackson goes on: “I am compos mentis … I am in the lounge, he is in the kitchen bleeding to death with any luck.” Asked how many times she stabbed him, Jackson says once. “And then he said I wouldn’t do it again, so I did it twice more.” Jackson also says she thought she had stabbed her husband in the heart, but adds: “Well he hasn’t got one.” Police rushed to the house and bodycam footage shows an officer calling out: “Get the ambulance in pronto – we need CPR.” Jackson says: “No, no, no, please don’t,” and adds that she “should have stabbed him a bit more”. She is cold and asks for a coat. “I have no intention of not agreeing to what I have done,” she said. “I know what I have done and I know why I’ve done it and if I haven’t done it properly I’m really annoyed.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...nelope-jackson

I mean, there's a proper way to do this sort of thing. ;)

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3pk7ZLQ

Torturing the English language whenever a cop kills someone

AP style guide:

Quote:

“Avoid the vague ‘officer-involved’ for shootings and other cases involving police. Be specific about what happened. If police use the term, ask: How was the officer or officers involved? Who did the shooting? If the information is not available or not provided, spell that out.”

A fine tradition of American journalism is to absolutely abuse the human language when writing about how a cop caused someone's death. Seems like a fine place to collect them:

How many times do you have to read this to figure out what happened:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABC Action News (Tampa) According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the trooper entered the path of the motorcyclist which led him to crash into the cruiser and become ejected. Troopers said the motorcyclist then fell into the road and was hit by a semi.

https://twitter.com/abcactionnews/st...02594418008064

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3AYxbJV

Jefferson statue will be removed

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/n...y-council.html

What does everyone think of this?

I was afraid it was going to come to this. I can easily this as the start of statues of Jefferson being removed everywhere. It would also mean removing the Jefferson memorial in Washington DC. I guess statues of Washington will also have to be removed, and the Washington Monument. After all, Washington was a slave owner too? Will it eventually become to offensive to display the Declaration of Independence, because it was written by a slave owner.

Seriously, we are going to have remove all monuments and status of all foundering fathers. None could hold up to the political correct standards of modern time. I am sure they all believed something offensive about black people or other minorities or women or homosexuals, etc . . . At this rate, eventual no statues of anyone that lived before the year 2000 will be allowed. and perhaps by the here 2050, some of the people that were around and considered acceptable today will by that time be considered offensive and have to be canceled. I wonder MLK, being a reverend, what he thought of homosexuals . . . ?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3BZhT8S

Fun Book Ideas for 10-year-old on: Scientific Worldview/ Critical Thinking/ Science

I'm looking for some book ideas for a book/s on: a scientific temper/ worldview; on critical thinking; or just on science. Something fun, for a 10-year-old.

Ideally what I'd be looking for is something like Dawkins's The Magic of Reality. Except I think that book's more suitable for someone who's a bit older. Not because a 10-year-old wouldn't understand it, they would; but I kind of think a 10-year-old might find that kind of thing dry, boring, not fun. At least most 10-year-olds. Around 12 I think is when that book should be read --- and of course, for someone who hasn't read it, any age at all is fine.

So anyway, I was looking for book ideas of that kind. For a 10-year-old. On what a scientific worldview entails, and/or on critical thinking. And a fun book.


----------


And if all of that is too much to ask for --- as it well may be --- then I'd settle simply on a fun book on science (for said 10-year-old).

Of course, science books for kids, there's lots and lots of those, obviously. But what I was looking for would be something ...well, fun, you know, something they'd actually enjoy, something that might get a child that is as yet not terribly interested in science, actually hooked on to science, something that might get them to see science as fun, something like that.


----------


So if you're aware of any such good books that answer to any one of those three descriptions/subjects, your recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks!

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3lVAlJZ

Woman Raped on Train While Passengers Film on Phones

A woman was raped on a Pennsylvania Septa train for six minutes while other passengers did nothing. Well, some pointed their phones at the scene, evidently recording it.

The attack did not stop till an off-duty Septa worker saw what was happening and immediately called 911, and police arrived 3 minutes later.

The man sat next to her and tried to put the moves on her, and grope her, and all those things women love on a subway, while she pushed him away. The rapist says it was totes consensual.

Is it time for laws requiring intervention when witnessing a violent crime? We are talking about a simple 911 dial, which might have saved this woman.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/septa-...-20211018.html

ETA: just to get this out of the way, don't bother noting that I totally missed the opportunity to title this Raping While Black.i hope to keep this on the subject of social responsibility in the age of effortless assistance, if only to call 911, and possibly the Bystander Effect in the wild.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3n8hOJL

Inflation

Inflation has finally arrived.

The combined banging out money from the GFC, then parlayed by Covid, might be finally coming home to roost.

The traditional view has been that throwing money out creates inflation, and we've now had a decade of that, except the inflation has been assets rather than consumer products, so the idiotically-named "headline inflation" has shown nothing for the entire 12 years since quantitative easing became QE.

Now, we have what may well be the perfect storm for inflationary pressure:

Unlimited money
Assets at prices where leverage is low
Close to zero interest paid on deposits
Supply chain problems/lack of shipping (and containers)
Labour shortage worldwide
OPEC finally getting its **** together
Closing fossil fuel & nuclear power plants

The key this time is the labour shortage. Up to now, employers have been able to keep a lid on wage demands, but unions are shaking off their fossil status now they've realised employers can't just go and hire different people.

Economists are split on whether the inflation - already running at 5% in lots of countries - is temporary or long-term.

Central banks are going to struggle with the issue, because printing more money won't fix it, but would exacerbate it nicely. Raising interest rates is a double-edged sword - it's guaranteed to push wage demands higher, leading to more inflation.

I'd love to know which way it's going, because if you pick it right there's a fortune to be made on the bond market.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3BVzxKQ

Standing outside while black

Quote:

Police in Chester Township wielded a loitering law to harass and illegally detain residents, lawsuit says The plaintiffs say they were doing nothing more than standing in front of their homes when they were arrested. All charges against them were later dismissed. Baldwin said he was coming home from a restaurant with his wife in September 2019 when he saw his cousin, Brandon Alvin, being detained by officers on their block in Chester Township. His crime? Loitering in front of the house he lived in, Mincey said. The officers had Alvin — who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit — pinned to the ground, and had just blasted him twice with pepper spray, Baldwin said. He said he stood on the sidewalk and watched the incident unfold mere feet from his front door. Then, he said, one of the officers accused him of loitering and ordered him to go inside. At the time, Baldwin said, he had a fractured knee from a car accident, and told the officers he needed to wait for his wife to hand him his walker before he could move. Rather than allow him to wait, Baldwin said, the officers pushed him to the ground and placed him under arrest for loitering. Chester Township’s loitering statute was adopted in 1990, four months after a nearly identical measure was added to the books in the city of Chester that made it illegal for anyone to loiter in a “high drug activity area” without “lawful and reasonable explanation for his presence there.”

It's illegal to stand around outside in a "high drug crime area".

One man was arrested twice in two days for the same loitering non-crime.

Quote:

As the cousins watched the arrests, officers ordered them — unlawfully, according to Mincey — to go inside. When they refused, both men were taken into custody, charged with violating the loitering statute and resisting arrest. The next day, after Keith Briggs’ mother came to pick him up from jail, the officers returned to the family’s home. There, they arrested Briggs’ cousin Kimyuatta Lewis and his aunt Rachel Briggs for loitering. When Keith and Rahmir Briggs tried to speak with the officers, they, too, were taken into custody, charged again with resisting arrest and other offenses.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/cheste...-20211016.html

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3lQ72IK

"infrared biomat" ? Woo?

"infrared biomat" (just so you can c&p)

Quote:

The far infrared biomat uses several pounds of amethyst crystals, jade and tourmaline to create heat that penetrates 3-8 inches into the body.

Does it work as well as microwaves?

Quote:

The BioMat converts electricity through a computerized control panel into Far Infrared Rays (FIR),

NOW it does sound like microwaves.

Sounds like a Crystal Placebo to me. $3,000 for 2 sq/meter. LOTS of placebo, what with that price.

1-2 lbs/sq/ft.

"The energy of far infrared rays is almost absorbed in about 200μm depth by the skin "

Do you think the quartz crystals actually give off a beneficial amount of FIR?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3BSaJ6w

They said "Show Me" so he did!!

From the "Politicians are too stupid to be allowed to use a computer" file, comes this little gem.

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/14/10461...ov-mike-parson

The upshot is that a Missouri reporter used "View page source", a right click context menu item that is standard on any browser, and discovered a poorly formatted page on a State Government website, which revealed over 100,000 social security numbers of education staff...(Oops!)

The reporter did the ethical thing of reporting what he found to the goverment and held off publishing this story until they had fixed it

Now, Chief Dumbass Governor of Missouri wants the reporter prosecuted for hacking a government website.

"Hacking" because he used "View page source"? How do these dumb-***** ever get elected?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3phmUpQ

At last, a chance to join!

It's finally happened! I received an e-mail this morning in recognition of my sterling work as a freelance disinformation agent. A nice man by the name of Joseph Mathay, who appears to be associated with the education system in Luxembourg, sent me the following missive:

============

Greetings From The Illuminati Order. Bringing the poor, the needy and the talented to the limelight of fame, riches, power and security.
Do you want to change your life completely for good and wish to be rich and successful in your business? Are you talented and wish to be famous? Do you want to be protected spiritually and physically. All these and more you will get in a twinkle of an eye when you join the great Illuminati Order. As a new member, you are also entitled to a financial donation of Five hundred thousand U.S Dollars. Do you agree to be a member of the Illuminati New World order? Reply YES! via email: illuminaticircle@hotmail.com <mailto:illuminaticircle@hotmail.com>
NOTE: Only contact us with the email stated: illuminaticircle@hotmail.com <mailto:illuminaticircle@hotmail.com>
For more instructions on our membership process.
The Illuminati.

============

I can't wait for my talents to be properly recognised. I'm sure he'll want my bank details to transfer the money, so I'll be getting back to him as soon as possible.

On a slightly more serious note, since the ideal target for a con artist is someone stupid who sincerely believes they're clever, I suspect this approach could have hit the motherlode. Just not with me.

Dave

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3vumNIM

Texas House wants to use federal Covid relief funds to cut property taxes

Texas House wants to use federal COVID relief funds to send out $525 checks — but only to homeowners

Quote:

Texas Republicans want to use billions in federal pandemic relief to send checks to homeowners just ahead of next year’s November elections — and call it property tax relief. House lawmakers are pushing a proposal that would put $525 checks in the mailboxes of some 5.7 million homeowners who claim a homestead exemption — by tapping $3 billion sent to the state under the federal American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill aimed at pandemic relief. Senate Bill 1, which passed out of the House on Friday afternoon, is a roundabout way for Republican legislators to deliver on a longtime pet issue — property tax relief — without running afoul of a federal rule barring the use of stimulus dollars for tax cuts.

Quote:

“Here’s the problem: A third of Texans don’t own their property,” state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said during debate on the House floor. “So none of this $3 billion would go to the one-third of Texans who rent. Not a penny.”

Quote:

The checks would arrive no later than Sept. 1 — about a month before voters head to the polls next year for early voting in the November midterm elections. Dick Lavine, senior fiscal analyst with the liberal-leaning Every Texan, blasted the proposal as a “transparent political ploy.” “They’ll have to print the check on legal size paper to fit the signatures of all the people who want to take credit for it,” Lavine said.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3BPEh4t

Anthropogenic Climate Change

Perhaps I've missed it somewhere. I have been away for a while so I apologize if so, but shouldn't there be a sub topic on AGW here of all places?

I invite those with at least a high school science education to try to educate the professional science deniers at CFACT.ORG and other Trumpist websites.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3jbDh3A

[Continuation] The Sinking of MS Estonia: Case Re-opened Part III

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vixen (Post 13630891) The Herald of Free Enterprise was turned to a shallow bank as soon as the crew realised what was happening the second it left port. The boatswain had not shut the car deck ferry doors, and thus lay on its side, after capsizing, on a shallow bank. Had it been out at sea it would have floated upside down for as long as five days, as with the MS Jan Heweliusz. Do you see why the Herald of Free Enterprise didn't reach the stage of what happened next after it capsized? Let me know if you still don't get it.

It sank in just a few minutes because of flooding through the open bow. to do that enough water must have been taken aboard to destabilise then sink the ship otherwise it would still have been afloat.

Have you actually ever read the report in to the sinking, or even any description of the events?

Thread continued from here.

Posted By:zooterkin

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3DHfrUU

Hallucination - how good is the processing power in our brains?

I guess I never had a hallucination. But I always wondered how it actually works with regards to the processing power and visual accuracy?
I'm not sure how graphically correct intense hallucinations can be, but sometimes in movies it is depicted as very accurate.
Like someone on drugs seeing monkeys running around the room etc.

Just from a pure processing point of view:
Imagine some 3D-creator had to make such a scene. Monkeys running/climbing around an existing room filled with furniture.
That's some intensive work that had to be done.

- Creating the monkey model
- Texturing the monkey model
- The shaders
- The lighting and illumination
- The animation
...

Our brain is able to create such a scene, not just a single image, but an animated scene out of thin air? On the fly? So realistic that the person having the hallucination actually thinks what they are seing is real? Just for instance, how does the brain know how to cast visually correct shadows of some non-existing but even animated thing moving around a real environment?

Am I overthinking this?
Are hallucinations actually not that good? More like dreams, very diffuse visually? And the person having hallucination is just not able to notice all the graphical inconsistencies?

Or is it visually so good that you can't notice the difference?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3aJMwTW

Doing standup while black: Dave Chappelle's new special

Has anyone else seen Dave Chapelle's new standup special The Closer? As many of you probably have heard, he caused a kerfuffle by making several jokes about transgenders in the special. He was attacked by twitter, members of the media, and now some Netflix employees are threatening a walkout.

I saw the special recently, and he joked about asians, white people, women, and other groups as much as he did about transgender; but it seems to be the hot button issue these days. I think the outrage has less to do with the contents of the show, and much more to do with the fact that he decided to joke about trans issues at all.

Has anyone else seen it? What did you think?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3aJD17k

Missing Black woman’s body found in unused police van

Quote:

The family of 29-year-old Christina Nance is demanding answers after her body was discovered in an unused police van. According to ABC 31, a body found in a van parked outside the Huntsville Police Department headquarters in Alabama was confirmed to be the missing woman on Monday (Oct. 11).

https://www.newsweek.com/christina-n...ce-van-1637922

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3AWJczD

MP David Amess stabbed to death

Tory MP David Amess has been stabbed while holding a meeting in his constituency. Details are sketchy at the moment, but he appears to have died from his injuries before reaching hospital.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58929453

This BBC news page is slightly out of date, but will perhaps be updated.

Amess is perhaps best known in Britain for his appearance on the Brass Eye episode cake, in which he campaigned against the fictional drug cake, going as far as to table a Parliamentary Question on the subject:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hansard Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action the Government propose in respect of the import of (a) khat, (b) gammahydroxybutyrate and (c) "cake" to the United Kingdom. [38968] Mr. Sackville: Neither the khat plant nor the substances gammahydroxybutyrate--GHB--or "cake", which we understand refers to 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-benzylamphetamine, are controlled under the international United Nations drug conventions or under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

He was a Tory in the mould of Alan Clark, in that he cared more about animal rights than human rights (rather than the affairs and Nazi references). He successfully pushed a ten minute rule bill through the Houses which meant it was illegal to tether horses in a way that would distress them.

He is the second British MP to be murdered in just over five years, following the killing of Jo Cox in 2016.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3p2pFvf

Tory MP Sir David Amess dies after stabbing

Conservative MP Sir David Amess has died after being stabbed at his constituency surgery in Essex.

Police said a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the stabbing in Leigh-on-Sea.

They said they recovered a knife and were not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58930593

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3nekHsT

Tory MP David Amess Murdered

Quote:

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was stabbed in Leigh-on-Sea. We were called to an address in Eastwood Road North shortly after 12.05pm today (Friday 15 October). We attended and found a man injured. He was treated by emergency services but, sadly, died at the scene. A 25-year-old man was quickly arrested after officers arrived at the scene on suspicion of murder and a knife was recovered. He is currently in custody. We are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.

Quote:

Sources with knowledge of the investigation confirm the man who died is the Conservative MP David Amess.

This is from the Guardian livefeed.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3j7TzKy

Printer nightmare....

...or How the Incompetent Code Monkeys at Microsoft Managed to Bork Network Shared Printing World-wide.

It all began in August when Microsoft released an update (KB5005565) that was supposed to address a vulnerability the Windows 10 sprint spooler... "A remote code execution vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged file operations." An unintended side-effect of the update was that printing to a network printer hosted by a Windows 8 or 10 computer stopped working. In some cases, the attempts would be accompanied by error 0x0000011b, in other cases, no error code appear, but it just doesn't print and when you go Devices & Printers and open the print dialog for that printer, the print job has "Access denied" in the Status column.

This issue only appears to happen when printing to network shared printers, that is printers attached, say via USB, to a host windows computer or print server, and you are trying to print to them from a client computer. It does not appear to effect network attached printers, that is printers that are directly connected to a network using their own built in Wi-Fi adaptor, or using an Ethernet cable to a network port.

A search of the internet revealed two possible workarounds

Option 1 - Uninstall KB5005565 and use wushowhide.diagcab (available from the Microsoft website) to block the update from downloading and installing, and

Option 2 - 1 Uninstall KB5005565 and find (or if it doesn't exist, create) the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Print\ and set the DWORD value of RpcAuthnLevelPrivacyEnabled to 0.

These workarounds were only necessary on the host machine, the one with the printer(s). Option 2 fixed it for me, and everything was going swimmingly, until this week, when, wouldn't you know it, the idiot Microsoft Code Monkeys went and did it again. This update KB5006670 borked printing to network shared printers, even with the above mentioned registry key correctly set.

Again a search of the internet revealed two possible workarounds

Option 1 - Uninstall KB5006670 and use wushowhide.diagcab to block the update from downloading and installing, and

Option 2 - Leave KB5006670 installed, and get a copy of Win32spl.dll (its in C:\Windows\System32) from a non-updated machine and overwrite the existing file on the updated machine.

I mean, what the actual **** is going on here. Don't these idiots test their updates before they release them?

Anaaanyway... the issue here is that, apparently, this issue only affects network shared printers that were not installed "with Administrative Privileges" Well, unless I have done something wrong, I installed and shared all the printers at my business using my Admin Account, and I still got hit with this problem... twice!

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3mZFf8l

Sprinklegate!

UK bakery ordered to stop using illegal US sprinkles that contain E127 food colouring

Quote:

A bakery in the United Kingdom says it will stop making its best-selling cookie after it was found to be using illegal sprinkles. The owner of Get Baked in Leeds, Rich Myers, has nothing good to say about the sprinkles available in the UK and was using imported ones from the United States. "Anyone who's into sprinkles will know what I'm on about. Sprinkles you can get in this country are totally ****. They look wank, they bake wank," Mr Myers said on Facebook. The problem is the American sprinkles contain E127, a red food colouring also known as Erythrosine or Red 3. In the UK and the European Union, the use of E127 is restricted: It is banned in edible foods, except cocktail cherries and candied cherries. Research has suggested the use of E127 in food has a negative effect on children's attention and behaviour... ...He said they would follow the rules, but no longer make their popular Raspberry Glazed Donut Cookie, which is covered in sprinkles, or put British sprinkles on any of their baked goods. "Unfortunately, I am only prepared to use them and no others," Mr Myers said. "If I can't use them, I won't use any. "I will be on sprinkle strike and won't budge for no man."

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3vfNvo4

That one genre novel that stands out from the author's body of work

Lee Child's Reacher novels are pretty consistent in quality. Some are better than others. None are spectacular. None are particularly bad.

Frederick Forsyth, on the other hand, was really firing on all cylinders for The Fourth Protocol. The other stuff of his I've read doesn't really compare.

Same with Robert Ludlum. The Bourne Identity is a near masterpiece of plotting, characters, and spycraft set pieces. What else I've read isn't up to the same standard.

What are your examples? What do you think causes this?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3FMQeuc

[Continuation] Texas bans abortion. Part 2

ironically, most arguments people use in defense of homeschooling or anti-vax ("they are our kids and no government gets to tell us what to do with them) are suddenly invalid when it comes to abortion.

Thread continues from here. You can quote or reply to any posts from that part here.

Posted By:zooterkin

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3j31vwV

Being children while black

Quote:

Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge. Judge Donna Scott Davenport oversees a juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee, with a staggering history of jailing children. She said kids must face consequences, which rarely seem to apply to her or the other adults in charge.

Exhaustive ProPublica piece on how one county went absolutely insane, locking up huge numbers of children, mostly poor and black, in a highly profitable scheme. Children as young as 7 were hoovered up into the criminal justice system for imagined crimes.

Quote:

The judge was proud of what she had helped build, despite some alarming numbers buried in state reports. Among cases referred to juvenile court, the statewide average for how often children were locked up was 5%. In Rutherford County, it was 48%. ... Eleven children in all were arrested over the video, including the 8-year-old taken in by mistake. Media picked up the story. Parents and community leaders condemned the actions of police. “Unimaginable, unfathomable,” a Nashville pastor said. “Unconscionable,” “inexcusable,” “insane,” three state legislators said. But Rutherford County’s juvenile court judge focused instead on the state of youth, telling a local TV station: “We are in a crisis with our children in Rutherford County. ... I’ve never seen it this bad.” ...

https://www.propublica.org/article/b...t-doesnt-exist

Elementary age children arrested for spectating a fistfight:

Quote:

His children, ages 9, 10 and 11, were arrested at Hobgood Elementary last Friday, along with an 8-year-old and a 13-year-old. Crawford said a 5-year-old and a 6-year-old were fighting over a basketball game in his backyard while another child recorded it. Police saw the video and showed up at the school. They handcuffed the students and drove them to the juvenile detention center, where they were charged with criminal responsibility of another.

https://www.wsmv.com/news/parent-wan...05a291dc5.html

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3aKfhj7

Strike and strike and strike and strike until you have victory

Strike wave baby!

Quote:

Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on strike within weeks Tens of thousands of workers around the US could go on strike in the coming weeks in what would be the largest wave of labor unrest since a series of teacher strikes in 2018 and 2019, which won major victories and gave the American labor movement a significant boost. The unrest spans a huge range of industries from healthcare to Hollywood and academia, and is largely focused on higher wages, fighting cuts and better working and safety conditions, especially in light of Covid-19. It also plays out against a backdrop of an economy bouncing back from the torrid experience of widespread economic shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, but one that is still marked by profound inequality.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...unions-strikes


Reports that Deere is getting a bunch of salaried desk jockies to go work in the assembly plants as the hourly staff is on strike. What could go wrong with a bunch of engineers trying to weld together a combine harvester?

Quote:

From a salary worker @ Deere: "The Deere "strikebreakers" are currently ~650 salary employees pulled from engineering & mgmt positions across Deere. Note: I say "Strikebreakers" because I can guarantee that with our lack of skill and numbers, we will not be breaking the strike."

https://twitter.com/JonahFurman/stat...83622940446722

[yt]1ZjCftwyQWg[/yt]

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3BIcxPt

Are world leaders megalomaniacs ?

It seems to me that the leaders of China, Russia and north Korea are all on the verge of starting wars. What the hell do they want to achieve?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3p0cYRo

Never Tell Me Again Christianity Isn't Plain Delusion

This has all the hallmarks of the next Jim Jones cult: https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avk...y-in-tennessee

If you ever wanted proof that christians are plain deluded, thinking Jesus would have been pro-gun is it.

Shall we run a book on when they get all shooty?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3FK0p2H

Luminosity and Flux

https://lonewolfonline.net/luminosity-flux-stars/

Flux = Luminosity / 4pi*r²

That's the luminosity, divided by the area of a sphere, as defined by the sphere's radius.

That means, assuming a star's luminosity is fixed, the amount of flux changes with the distance to the star.

Alternatively, we could say:

Flux = Luminosity / 4pi*(ct)²

Where r is replaced by ct, which is the speed of light times the travel time to the star at the speed of light, which gives us the distance r.

Any problem with that?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3axZ54r

Hitler Fanboy Rudy Dent dead at 75

In 2015, Luke Rudkowski "discovered" Rudy Dent, a former FDNY member who was called to duty in the afternoon of 9/11, who was, if I remember correctly, at the West St/Hudson staging area when Building 7 collapsed.

Back then, he "remembered" explosions and supported all he had learned from 9/11 Truth, and so they allowed him to participate in some official AE911Truth 9/11 anniversary event in 2015 or 2016.

But soon after that, he was never mentioned again - probably because they discovered, as we did, that Rudy was not only a Truther. He was also a true, loyal and faithful to the core Fanboy of none other than Adolf - yes, that Adolf Hitler, Hitler. On his old Facebook page back then, hardly a day would pass when Rudy would not post some praise for the Third Reich, an icon glorifying The Führer, a full denial of the Holocaust, or a praise for the Holocaust. You could not possibly go more paleo-nazi than Rudy Dent.

After years of staying silence about him in embarrassment, now AE911Truth posted this obituary for Rudi "Adolf" Dent:

https://www.facebook.com/ae911truth/...58148347576269

Quote:

Originally Posted by ae911truth Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth October 11, 2021 We at AE911Truth were saddened to learn of the passing of retired FDNY Firefighter and 9/11 Truth activist Rudy Dent on October 7, 2021, from a 9/11-related illness. Rudy is now one of the thousands of 9/11 first responders who have died as a result of breathing the toxic air at Ground Zero. Having lost several close colleagues on September 11, 2001, Rudy was for many years an outspoken advocate for the 9/11 Truth movement. On that morning, he was called in from his day off and arrived on the scene after both of the Twin Towers had fallen, later witnessing firsthand the fall of World Trade Center Building 7. He knew immediately from the loud boom that compared with the explosions he heard during his service in Vietnam and from the way Building 7 went down that it had been demolished. Rudy worked tirelessly on the pile at Ground Zero in the days following the tragedy. According to his family, he first began showing symptoms of lung problems in 2020. His wife told AE911Truth that she considers his work for the 9/11 Truth Movement to be his legacy. “He reached so many to put them on the right path to know what’s going on,” she said. “Keep the movement going, because that’s what he would want. Continue the fight.” Our condolences go out to Rudy’s family and to the many activists who knew Rudy and worked with him over the years. We hope that his courage and dedication will inspire other first responders who were there on 9/11 to step forward and join him in spirit in calling for a new investigation.

I have not found a comment yet that called out Rudy for the Hitler arse licker he was. But some gems include:

• Rotschields...
  Zionists...
• Rudy was very active on Facebook sharing good information.

These people know Rudy was an antisemite and nazi - and they approve.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3j1Wi8i