From the world of science fiction becomes reality, the Israelis have just produced an energy beam weapon that can take down incoming artillery shells and drones at a cost of $3.50 a shot.
I think this sort of technology has the potential to change air and missile attack forever. It might be that aircraft, in the future, need to be clad with really good mirrors.
I doesn't take a stretch to imagine this technology being extended to take down enemy fighters, bombers, and missiles. It probably could also be extended to satellite defense systems.
I imagine it would be possible to have this type of equipment on satellites to take down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles, or even to deal with enemy threats on the ground from an unseen source in the sky.
The new thing seems to be independent targeting of multiple lasers onto the same spot.
The trouble with lasers, unless you're using frequencies that can also fry electronics, is that they're not a destructive kinetic kill – one focuses the laser on the same spot until the energy absorbed creates a structural weakness or fire. Or, in the case of the warheads, dumps enough energy to inisitate the warhead's own primer or explosive.
Drones hang about for ages, so, sure, laser bait. But the shorter term stuff like rockets and shells? Such tests have been rigged since SDI in the 1980s. Forget mirrors, throw on some ablative shielding that lasts just long enough, and your warhead is practically immune.
So, practical system? Sure, given the importance of drones in recent years. Cheaper than a missile or gatling gun, and no friendly debris to come down somewhere if you miss.
Not sure it's the "global game-changer" or whatever they called it, though.
"Not sure it's the "global game-changer" or whatever they called it, though."
I definitely don't think this specific one is a global game changer. But I think improvements will be made and better models developed. I understand this one requires only 150KW, which in the scheme of things isn't that big. Some large industrial motors would require more power than that.
But imagine if one is made that soaked up 1000KW. That sort of thing could be a lot more challenging for air-craft. Particularly if it can saw off a wing like it did to that drone.
Funnily enough, the main advantage I see in Iron Beam is the networking ability. Having an array of these things thinly distributed basically increases the engagement time while reducing thermal blooming screwing the attentuation. Two or three vehicles can hit the same point at the same time, as an integrated network.
BTW, it didn't look to me like it sawed off the wing. Looks to me like it started a fire that structurally weakened the wing to the point of collapse. So much is down to wing design, fuel payload, even the colour of the target. A different wing structure, maybe the fire would have had less effect. A different colour, maybe the mortar bomb hits the ground before it goes boom. Hell, did they attack it from the time of firing or was it set to land just inside their 7km radius and they had 2sec to make it go boom? Defense industry is so full of shit, lol. Who knows what the kernel of truth might be.
Yeah, I get the bit about the atmosphere reducing the focus of the beam.
That was why I was thinking in terms of satellite type war. Maybe powered by a large solar array. It could be quite effective in taking out intercontinental ballistic missiles as they approach close to outer space where the atmosphere isn’t such a problem.
I realise there are limitations to this sort of thing. But it is quite cool to see something like that even working at all.
Trouble is that the higher you go, the larger the distance you have to project the laser over. In low earth orbit there's still enough air in the thousands of kilometres range ICBM interception requires, and tens of thousands of km for a higher orbit.
Additionally, in order to reduce the number of targets to a plausibly-manageable level all the ICBMs need to be intercepted in their boost phase (going up) before they seperate into individual re-entry vehicles.
But the problem with a nuclear umbrella is that it just encourages further buildup – sooner or later a large enough number of nukes will get through to be a deterrent.
One funny thing about some of the short range laser systems the US has been working with on ships (the navy really likes the idea of getting away from the potential for magazine explosiones, so rail guns and lasers are the go) is that the laser optics need to be outsdtanding, and attenuation works both ways, so the experimental system turned out to be a really useful sensor. Better than a sailor with binoculars.
Republicans have mocked Joe Biden for "shaking hands with thin air' after the US President appeared confused at the end of a speech on supply chains. The 79-year-old had just finished delivering a nearly 40-minute speech in Greensboro, North Carolina, when he turned to his right and stuck out his hand.
Biden then lingered on stage with his back to the audience, turning left before descending to the right.
Well, there were these imaginary supporters who had crowded the stage to congratulate him, I presume. Anyone who can speak for 40 minutes on supply chains to a public audience deserves congratulation. Who cares if they weren't really there?
At one point, Biden claimed to have served as a "full professor" at the University of Pennsylvania, despite never teaching a class there.
Just normal identity politics. Reality doesn't matter according to the doctrine of postmodernism. You compete via narratives.
Biden's gaffes have become more frequent in recent months. Earlier this month, he said First Lady Jill Biden had served as Barack Obama's vice president, a job he had held himself for eight years.
It worked for Reagan & GWB. He's just demonstrating bipartisanship. It's a leadership style that has become traditional in US politics.
This week, Biden was mocked on a Saudi-Arabian sketch show, in which the President was portrayed as doddering and forgetful, in footage that has gone viral.
Saudis have a sense of humour?? Who knew?
The White House was also forced to correct an error by Biden after he said Americans who use renewable energy to power their homes could save "about $500 a month on average".
Hours after the speech, the White House sent out a transcript of the president's remarks with the word "month" crossed out and the word "year" added in brackets.
Bomber fulminates against "…the craven China worship by quisling website Socialist Equality Group decry any criticism of the largest human rights abusing regime on the face of the Planet", thereby becoming the first person in the history of the universe to give planet a capital P.
The SIS should openly investigate Socialist Equality Group as Chinese enablers and for possible treason.
Last months Vanity Fair expose on the machinations of China, the Wuhan Lab, Fauci and the insanely incompetent EcoHealth Alliance forces all rational minds to re-examine the Wuhan Lab Leak theory…
When one encounters two origin myths of the pandemic, and one is rational, one ought to note that proof is lacking for either, and therefore it is rational to point out that the competing narratives saga has no winner. Schrodinger's cat scenario.
Peter Daszak transformed the environmental nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance into a government-funded sponsor of risky, cutting-edge virus research in both the U.S. and Wuhan, China. Drawing on more than 100,000 leaked documents, a V.F. investigation shows how an organization dedicated to preventing the next pandemic found itself suspected of helping start one.
He sent "the draft of an unpublished scientific paper he’d written to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the president of the United States."
Bloom’s paper was the product of detective work he’d undertaken after noticing that a number of early SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences mentioned in a published paper from China had somehow vanished without a trace. The sequences, which map the nucleotides that give a virus its unique genetic identity, are key to tracking when the virus emerged and how it might have evolved.
In Bloom’s view, their disappearance raised the possibility that the Chinese government might be trying to hide evidence about the pandemic’s early spread. Piecing together clues, Bloom established that the NIH itself had deleted the sequences from its own archive at the request of researchers in Wuhan.
Why? The officials in charge are refusing to say. Cue conspiracy theorists. Apologists for traditional left/right governance will say look, we never tell the public anything important. Don't ask.
The dispute over COVID-19’s origins has become increasingly acrimonious, with warring camps of scientists trading personal insults on Twitter feeds. Natural-origin proponents argue that the virus, like so many before it, emerged from the well-known phenomenon of natural spillover, jumping from a bat host to an intermediate species before going on to infect humans. Those suspecting a lab-related incident point to an array of possible scenarios, from inadvertent exposure of a scientist during field research to the accidental release of a natural or manipulated strain during laboratory work. The lack of concrete evidence supporting either theory has only increased the rancor. “Everyone is looking for a smoking gun that would render any reasonable doubt impossible,” says Amir Attaran, a biologist and lawyer at the University of Ottawa.
I think everyone privately knows how the virus originated, but it is not allowed to become public knowledge because that would point the finger directly at St Fauci.
Hence the need to keep this 'it isn't certain' theatre going for a few more acts.
Dennis, some are so invested in the SARS-CoV-2 lab origin hypothesis that there's no talking with them. Those with more open minds are continuing the research, and will no doubt be the target of much opprobrium for their efforts.
It’s intriguing that the more closed-minded among us believe some gene sequences of the original SARS-CoV-2 samples are ‘unlikely’ to have arisen naturally, when the initial Omicron variant sported the "craziest", "most mutated" genome – lab origin, anyone?
Where did Omicron come from? Three key theories [28 Jan. 2022]
The highly transmissible variant emerged with a host of unusual mutations. Now scientists are trying to work out how it evolved.
There’s no transparent path of transmission linking Omicron to its predecessors. Instead, the variant has an unusual array of mutations, which it evolved entirely outside the view of researchers. Omicron is so different from earlier variants, such as Alpha and Delta, that evolutionary virologists estimate its closest-known genetic ancestor probably dates back to more than a year ago, some time after mid-2020. “It just came out of nowhere,” says Darren Martin, a computational biologist at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
The variant has more than 50 mutations when compared with the original SARS-CoV-2 virus isolated in Wuhan, China (see go.nature.com/32utxva). Some 30 of these contribute to changes in amino acids in the spike protein1, which the coronavirus uses to attach to and fuse with cells. Previous variants of concern have had no more than ten such spike mutations.
Could we call it hyperdarwinism? I take your point re lab origin via assisted mutation which could be a basis for conspiracists to do their thing. I'm mostly agnostic – but the way the US kept their Wuhan lab involvement out of the media for so long two years ago made me suspicious.
However it makes sense that natural evolution at hyperspeed is likely too – if it's true that it happens faster the deeper you dive into small worlds…
Given that Omicron has turned out to be the most effective vaccine of all – you might want to say thank you.
Ah yes, the fantastic 'Omicron vaccine' – if you believe that, then I've some ivermectin to sell you, assuming that your previous stock is now exhausted.
Omicron Death Rate Higher Than During Delta Surge [9 Feb.]
With the Omicron variant now accounting for almost 100% of COVID-19 cases in the United States, the seven-day average of daily COVID-related deaths hit 2,600 recently, the highest rate in about a year, The Washington Post reported.
With ‘vaccines’ like that, who needs viruses. And, after reading the article linked to @3.2.2, I'm none the wiser as to who I should be thanking – do you have any clue?
That quote is a furphy – it quotes a daily death rate not a death rate per case. Everyone understands that because Omicron will infect a lot more people very quickly that even with a much lower morbidity there will be a spike in the daily rates for a period. As back in Feb. Now it is much lower.
Secondly my OWiD link above demonstrates the headline in that article is another mistake. The Delta daily peak was around 3,200, while Omicron was about 2,600.
But this is all a diversion – the evidence that COVID has strong links to GoF research is every bit as reasonable as the emerged from nature hypothesis.
That quote is a furphy – it quotes a daily death rate not a death rate per case.
My point (“With ‘vaccines’ like that, who needs viruses.“), in case it wasn’t clear, is that the ‘Omicron vaccine’ is (way) more dangerous than the Pfizer vaccine, and the latter seems reasonably effective at keeping people above ground during an Omicron wave, provided they possess sufficient common sense to get boosted beforehand
But this is all a diversion – the evidence that COVID has strong links to GoF research is every bit as reasonable as the emerged from nature hypothesis.
I can just about stretch to "every bit as reasonable" if you can – how about it?
I think everyone privately knows how the virus originated, but it is not allowed to become public knowledge because that would point the finger directly at St Fauci.
Hence the need to keep this 'it isn't certain' theatre going for a few more acts. – Redlogix @3.1
Let's just say that having read both Sharri Markson's What Really Happened in Wuhan and Alina Chan and Matt Ridley's Viral – I may well be a bit biased. Both books contain a lot of interesting material – and while it would be impossible for any authors to be absolutely definitive when dealing with such an opaque matter – the preponderance of evidence in my view still points to a lab origin.
But let me put it this way. If the natural origin hypothesis is eventually demonstrated to be true, what we will also know for certain is that after 15 years of intensive coronavirus hunting and testing by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, it turned out they were helpless to prevent an epidemic of the same in their own backyard. That would have to be a very great irony indeed.
But let me put it this way. Despite tremendous and on-going advances in the sciences, technology, medicine, engineering, et al., this iteration of civilisation is essentially helpless to prevent or correct a myriad of human behaviour-based catastrophes, ranging from the personal to the global. Still, some good souls will keep trying, and I wish them luck.
A selection from my gender critical twitter this morning, for those that might still be wondering why women don't want males in female only spaces. This isn't about trans women, it's about gender identity ideologues (of whateever GI) who insist that TW are literally women and who won't address the massive misogyny in their movement as MRAs and predatory males take advantage of the doors being opened.
That's a UK Labour councillor in response to a feminist group askig for stories from the local body election campaigning. Feminists are running a grass roots campaign #respectmysex, which is asking candidates to answer the question "what is a woman?" Apparently people are starting to ask the question of party door knockers (there's now decent MSM coverage of the issues and there's been a shift away from No Debate, to an acknowledgement by media of the conflict of rights).
The councillor above just said that any male can now identify as a woman and be considered a woman. Why is it not obvious to left wing men how hugely problematic this is? I hope people are paying attention for the NZ 2023 election.
The author identifies three key factors… the very obviousness of its focus emerges as one of the key strengths of Identity, Ignorance, Innovation. This is because of d’Ancona’s range. The author neatly synthesizes material from across the political spectrum, drawing on a range of references, and powerfully backs up his arguments with evidence.
Relevance comes from the interface between the first two factors. Ignorance is produced by ignoring stuff. For instance, males who ignore the motivational basis of trans identification are unlikely to realise they are supporting public policies of discrimination. Leftist males who support trans ideology can easily fall into a credibility trap. They think they are being politically correct. If women point out that they are exhibiting bigotry as a result they will be likely to take refuge in denial.
Leftists traditionally pose as do-gooders. Those who aren't hypocrites may even do good to validate their self-belief. Identity translating into behaviour appropriately. Triggering perception that they are doing bad while believing they are doing good therefore requires applied psychology way up there at the level of sophistication!
Dunno about relevance to the next election, but progress will probably hinge on group consciousness-raising around incidents that cause harm and produce victims. The latter are often too traumatised to be suitably advocates for change so victim support groups will need to do the advocacy.
I share your concern about potential harm but suspect publicity of actual harm done will be the only way that the sham of males pretending to be females can be exposed.
We don't have a grass roots gender critical feminist movement here like the UK. But there is potential for that. Or a group of left wing women asking the question next year and being willing to take the hits.
Re publicity of harm, I could write a post a week about this, but not without putting myself at risk. Left wing men probably don't realise just how long it's going to take to get past the fact that they have tried to silence women.
There's one thing we need to allow and one thing we need to prevent:
Allow people who genuinely and in good faith feel they are the wrong gender and will be happy only when they transition, to do so. We need to care for them, and protect them from the charlatans and profit-takers who potentially want to make the phenomenon more common than it might naturally be, because it is a revenue stream for them.
Prevent misogynists from exploiting this pathway we have just opened up as a route to finding new and very dangerous ways to express and action their hatred of women.
I am all ears for a way to do both these things. How do we do the second without also killing off the first? How do we do the first without also permitting the second?
Far out weka ! sounds like a ' too toxic 'environment for my liking ! changing the topic slightly why were you seemingly so anti musks takeova moves ?in a nutshell ?
Too much ego. Plus, his ideas on climate responses are problematic in that he seems to have no sense of nature and thinks we can put animals on the Mars zoo as a way to save their species. His space stuff is basically let's not bother about saving earth. He's a fully paid up member of the death cult as far as I can see, only he likes to think of himself as somehow green.
Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Gates, et al, they're all men with way too much power and at a time when society lets them do what they want. We could be using all that resource for stopping climate change, regenerating nature, and making sure people don't starve or get sold into the sex trade, but no, they want to accumulate wealth instead. Musk shouldn't be rewarded for that.
It’s the wrong question. Those power lingering dudes think it’s about tgat but it’s really about social and emotional intelligence and well-being. They have neither the skills nor the consciousness nor the ethics to run social media in ways that net benefit society. If we had any sense we’d take their toys away from them.
And this is how gender non confirming kids are being lied to and irreversibly harmed by gender ideology. This is the result of No Debate (which prevented the safeguarding conversations that should have happened in the past decade), and of the affirmation only approach by medical people and therapists (kids aren’t getting the suppprt they need to sort out their shit before they are put on this life long path).
Expect lawsuits in the US. UK already had its own legal actions happening.
I use an infrared rather than a gas heater outdoors but I'm not too sure how my drinking companions would react should I declare bromeopathy, and then irradiate my goolies.
Of course. It's expected that progressives would support trans rights.
Now look at what happens to women's position when the question is about trans women who have had no surgery being allowed to use women's changing rooms (in your link).
What do you think is going to happen when women generally find out that a) most trans women are pre-op, b) self ID means that any man can say at any time they are a woman and there is an expectation they will be accepted as such, and c) there is a class of men who cross dress as a sexual kink (are aroused by this and the thought of themselves as woman) who now claim to be trans women (thanks Stonewall).
Then, when they find out that young girls who are really lesbian have gone down a medical and surgical transition route (mastectomies and sometimes hysterectomy) because of affirmation only policies, and later regret it (and it doesn't resolve their dysphoria) so they detransition but are left with lifelong damage to their bodies.
If you want to ask progressive women what they think, then tell them the truth about the situation first. My guess is that they will support general rights for trans people along with everyone else, and will put in place boundaries around protecting women and children from the ideology that is causing problems. Both/and.
Then, when they find out that young girls who are really lesbian have gone down a medical and surgical transition route (mastectomies and sometimes hysterectomy) because of affirmation only policies, and later regret it (and it doesn't resolve their dysphoria) so they detransition but are left with lifelong damage to their bodies.
And males who transition because they were attracted to other males in the AIDS era.
The sacrifices I made seemed irrelevant to the teenager I was: someone with gender dysphoria, yes, but also anxiety and depression. I chose an irreversible change before I’d even begun to understand my sexuality.
The personal account covers all the issues you raise and relates it to the situation today.
Inflation in Japan is expected to reach a 30yr high (excluding sales tax yrs) of 1.8%.A country that is a significant commodity importer and high quality goods exporter.
The low level of inflation is due to stable housing,transportation and health care costs due to population demographics.
The recent inflation is due to immigration into urban centres to meet labour shortages,and the prices of apartments increases are now what they were in 1992.
High court judge quashed the sentence down to 23 months in February, making him eligible for home detention – which self-evidently failed to keep either him or the community safe.
Price's long history of offending was detailed during a successful High Court appeal of his sentence in November last year of two years, six months in prison on charges including burglary, police chases, failing to stop, escaping custody and theft.
Justice Christine Grice found Price's sentence was "manifestly excessive" and should have included a discount for his youth.
His final sentence was 23 months in prison, making him eligible for home detention.
Judge Grice quoted his chaotic family life as a significant factor – however, didn't seem to consider that this made him less suitable for home detention….
“In Mr Price’s case, this is particularly exacerbated by the lack of support and his transient and chaotic family life,” Justice Christine Grice said in her decision from the High Court in Wellington.
Price could ask for the sentence to be substituted for home detention if he could find somewhere suitable to live, the judge said.
Thanks for that. IMO Justice Christine Grice should be held partly accountable. In fact if it was up to me, she would no longer be able to be a judge for say 5 years.
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This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Senior Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia In his farewell address, outgoing US President Joe Biden warned “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy”. The comment suggests ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hrvoje Tkalčić, Professor, Head of Geophysics, Director of Warramunga Array, Australian National University A map showing the ‘Martian dichotomy’: the southern highlands are in yellows and oranges, the northern lowlands in blues and greens.NASA / JPL / USGS Mars is home ...
A new poem by Niamh Hollis-Locke.Field-notes: Midsummer, 9pm, walking barefoot in the reserve after a storm, the sky still light, the city strung out across backs of the hills Dunes of last week’s cut grass washed downslope against the bracken, drifts of pale wet stems rotting into one ...
The poll, conducted between 9-13 January, shows National down 4.6 points to 29.6%, while Labour have risen 4.0 points from last month, overtaking them with30.9%. ...
As the world farewells visionary director David Lynch, we return to this 2017 piece by Angela Cuming about escaping into the haunting world of Twin Peaks. I was only 10 years old when Twin Peaks – and the real world – found me.Once a week, in the dark, I ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc C-Scott, Associate Professor of Screen Media | Deputy Associate Dean of Learning & Teaching, Victoria University Screenshot/YouTube The 2025 Australian Open (AO) broadcast may seem similar to previous years if you’re watching on the television. However, if you’re watching online ...
By Anish Chand in Suva A Fiji community human rights coalition has called on Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to halt his “reckless expansion” of government and refocus on addressing Fiji’s pressing challenges. The NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) said it was outraged by the abrupt and arbitrary reshuffling of ...
A selection of the best shows, movies, podcasts and playlists that kept us entertained over the holidays. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here.Leo (Netflix) My partner and I watched exactly one thing on the TV in our Japan accommodation while ...
Toby Manhire tells you everything you need to know ahead of season two of Severance.After an agonising wait – nearly three years between waffles, thanks to US actor and writer strikes and, some say, creative squabbles – Severance returns today, Friday January 17. For my money the first season ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 32-year-old mother of a one-year-old shares her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 32. Ethnicity: East Asian – NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talia Fell, PhD Candidate, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland The Los Angeles wildfires are causing the devastating loss of people’s homes. From A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton to an Australian family living in LA, thousands ...
The outgoing and incoming presidents have both claimed credit for the historic deal, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Finally, some good fucking news. The Friday Poem is back! Last year, The Spinoff leveled with its audience about the financial reality it faced and called for support from its audience. Some tough decisions were made at the time including cuts to our commissioning budget and the discontinuation of The ...
The soon-to-be deputy PM has already had a crucial win behind the scenes. First published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. Margaret Thatcher used to love prime minister’s questions. If you’re not familiar, the UK parliamentary system has a weekly procedure where the prime minister is subject to at least ...
Summer reissue: The current coalition not lasting beyond this parliamentary term is an idea that’s been seized on by its opponents. History suggests it’s unlikely – but not impossible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila More than 180,000 registered voters are expected to cast their votes today with polls now open in Vanuatu. It is remarkable the snap election is even able to happen with Friday marking one month since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the ...
New Zealand needs to boost its productivity growth and become more attractive and accessible as a workplace in order to fix its labour market woes, a recruitment agency says.Commenting on new salary survey results from Robert Walters, Shay Peters, the company’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive, says the Government ...
Comment: When Newsroom’s editor Jonathan Milne invited me to write one of two special pieces for the summer break, I faced quite the conundrum. My options were to either review a work of non-fiction or write a column about hope and optimism for 2025.I initially misread Jonathan’s request to review ...
By Daniel Perese of Te Ao Māori News Māori politicians across the political spectrum in Aotearoa New Zealand have called for immediate aid to enter Gaza following a temporary ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, agreed yesterday, comes into effect on Sunday, January 19. Foreign Minister Winston Peters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Sherlock, Lecturer, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University Australian-owned brand UGG Since 1974 has announced it will change its name to “Since 74” for sales outside Australia and New Zealand. There has been a long-running battle over the rights ...
The committee has agreed to split into two sub-committees to increase the number of people it can hear from in the time available. Each sub-committee will meet for 30 hours total, together making up 60 of the 80 planned hours of hearings. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Parmeter, Research scholar, Middle East studies, Australian National University The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to come into effect on Sunday, has understandably been welcomed by the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis are relieved that a process for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia Over the past several days, the world has watched on in shock as wildfires have devastated large parts of Los Angeles. Beyond the obvious destruction – to landscapes, homes, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose Cairns, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, University of Sydney AtlasStudio/Shutterstock TikTok and Instagram influencers have been peddling the “Barbie drug” to help you tan. But melanotan-II, as it’s called officially, is a solution that’s too good to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor in Strategic Management, The University of Queensland A series of wildfires in Los Angeles County have caused widespread devastation in California, including at least 24 deaths and the destruction of more than 12,000 homes and structures. Thousands of residents ...
COMMENTARY:By Monika Singh The lack of women representation in parliaments across the world remains a vexed and contentious issue. In Fiji, this problem has again surfaced for debate in response to Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica’s call for a quota system to increase women’s representation in Parliament. Kamikamica was ...
What compels someone of significant status in society to break the law, repeatedly, might be the same reason I did as a poor teenager. Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, who left parliament a year ago today following revelations of shoplifting, is now at the centre of another shoplifting complaint. As ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of Technology natamrli/Shutterstock Last week, social media giant Meta announced major changes to its content moderation practices. This includes an ...
From the world of science fiction becomes reality, the Israelis have just produced an energy beam weapon that can take down incoming artillery shells and drones at a cost of $3.50 a shot.
I think this sort of technology has the potential to change air and missile attack forever. It might be that aircraft, in the future, need to be clad with really good mirrors.
I doesn't take a stretch to imagine this technology being extended to take down enemy fighters, bombers, and missiles. It probably could also be extended to satellite defense systems.
I imagine it would be possible to have this type of equipment on satellites to take down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles, or even to deal with enemy threats on the ground from an unseen source in the sky.
The new thing seems to be independent targeting of multiple lasers onto the same spot.
The trouble with lasers, unless you're using frequencies that can also fry electronics, is that they're not a destructive kinetic kill – one focuses the laser on the same spot until the energy absorbed creates a structural weakness or fire. Or, in the case of the warheads, dumps enough energy to inisitate the warhead's own primer or explosive.
Drones hang about for ages, so, sure, laser bait. But the shorter term stuff like rockets and shells? Such tests have been rigged since SDI in the 1980s. Forget mirrors, throw on some ablative shielding that lasts just long enough, and your warhead is practically immune.
So, practical system? Sure, given the importance of drones in recent years. Cheaper than a missile or gatling gun, and no friendly debris to come down somewhere if you miss.
Not sure it's the "global game-changer" or whatever they called it, though.
"Not sure it's the "global game-changer" or whatever they called it, though."
I definitely don't think this specific one is a global game changer. But I think improvements will be made and better models developed. I understand this one requires only 150KW, which in the scheme of things isn't that big. Some large industrial motors would require more power than that.
But imagine if one is made that soaked up 1000KW. That sort of thing could be a lot more challenging for air-craft. Particularly if it can saw off a wing like it did to that drone.
The main problem is attenuation in air, if I recall the old Star wars projects. Air scatters the beam. Wider spot means longer to heat up, so either more power or some manner of beam refocussing to get back to a small dot – ISTR a fair amount of crossover there between 1990s SDI-type projects and ground-based astronomical observatories using lasers to calculate how their images are warping because of the air.
Funnily enough, the main advantage I see in Iron Beam is the networking ability. Having an array of these things thinly distributed basically increases the engagement time while reducing thermal blooming screwing the attentuation. Two or three vehicles can hit the same point at the same time, as an integrated network.
BTW, it didn't look to me like it sawed off the wing. Looks to me like it started a fire that structurally weakened the wing to the point of collapse. So much is down to wing design, fuel payload, even the colour of the target. A different wing structure, maybe the fire would have had less effect. A different colour, maybe the mortar bomb hits the ground before it goes boom. Hell, did they attack it from the time of firing or was it set to land just inside their 7km radius and they had 2sec to make it go boom? Defense industry is so full of shit, lol. Who knows what the kernel of truth might be.
Yeah, I get the bit about the atmosphere reducing the focus of the beam.
That was why I was thinking in terms of satellite type war. Maybe powered by a large solar array. It could be quite effective in taking out intercontinental ballistic missiles as they approach close to outer space where the atmosphere isn’t such a problem.
I realise there are limitations to this sort of thing. But it is quite cool to see something like that even working at all.
Trouble is that the higher you go, the larger the distance you have to project the laser over. In low earth orbit there's still enough air in the thousands of kilometres range ICBM interception requires, and tens of thousands of km for a higher orbit.
Additionally, in order to reduce the number of targets to a plausibly-manageable level all the ICBMs need to be intercepted in their boost phase (going up) before they seperate into individual re-entry vehicles.
But the problem with a nuclear umbrella is that it just encourages further buildup – sooner or later a large enough number of nukes will get through to be a deterrent.
One funny thing about some of the short range laser systems the US has been working with on ships (the navy really likes the idea of getting away from the potential for magazine explosiones, so rail guns and lasers are the go) is that the laser optics need to be outsdtanding, and attenuation works both ways, so the experimental system turned out to be a really useful sensor. Better than a sailor with binoculars.
Uh-oh, dementia..
Well, there were these imaginary supporters who had crowded the stage to congratulate him, I presume. Anyone who can speak for 40 minutes on supply chains to a public audience deserves congratulation. Who cares if they weren't really there?
Just normal identity politics. Reality doesn't matter according to the doctrine of postmodernism. You compete via narratives.
It worked for Reagan & GWB. He's just demonstrating bipartisanship. It's a leadership style that has become traditional in US politics.
Saudis have a sense of humour?? Who knew?
Bomber fulminates against "…the craven China worship by quisling website Socialist Equality Group decry any criticism of the largest human rights abusing regime on the face of the Planet", thereby becoming the first person in the history of the universe to give planet a capital P.
When one encounters two origin myths of the pandemic, and one is rational, one ought to note that proof is lacking for either, and therefore it is rational to point out that the competing narratives saga has no winner. Schrodinger's cat scenario.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat
So what's the guts? This guy, a virus specialist: https://www.fredhutch.org/en/faculty-lab-directory/bloom-jesse.html
He sent "the draft of an unpublished scientific paper he’d written to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the president of the United States."
Why? The officials in charge are refusing to say. Cue conspiracy theorists. Apologists for traditional left/right governance will say look, we never tell the public anything important. Don't ask.
I think everyone privately knows how the virus originated, but it is not allowed to become public knowledge because that would point the finger directly at St Fauci.
Hence the need to keep this 'it isn't certain' theatre going for a few more acts.
Dennis, some are so invested in the SARS-CoV-2 lab origin hypothesis that there's no talking with them. Those with more open minds are continuing the research, and will no doubt be the target of much opprobrium for their efforts.
https://www.science.org/content/article/hunt-new-viruses-bat-trapping-scientist-hopes-prevent-future-pandemics
It’s intriguing that the more closed-minded among us believe some gene sequences of the original SARS-CoV-2 samples are ‘unlikely’ to have arisen naturally, when the initial Omicron variant sported the "craziest", "most mutated" genome – lab origin, anyone?
Interesting, thanks.
Could we call it hyperdarwinism? I take your point re lab origin via assisted mutation which could be a basis for conspiracists to do their thing. I'm mostly agnostic – but the way the US kept their Wuhan lab involvement out of the media for so long two years ago made me suspicious.
However it makes sense that natural evolution at hyperspeed is likely too – if it's true that it happens faster the deeper you dive into small worlds…
You are way late to that party.
Given that Omicron has turned out to be the most effective vaccine of all – you might want to say thank you.
Only by getting around the vaccine that was puting delta to bed.
Omigod they're ALL lab leaks!
Ah yes, the fantastic 'Omicron vaccine' – if you believe that, then I've some ivermectin to sell you, assuming that your previous stock is now exhausted.
With ‘vaccines’ like that, who needs viruses. And, after reading the article linked to @3.2.2, I'm none the wiser as to who I should be thanking – do you have any clue?
That quote is a furphy – it quotes a daily death rate not a death rate per case. Everyone understands that because Omicron will infect a lot more people very quickly that even with a much lower morbidity there will be a spike in the daily rates for a period. As back in Feb. Now it is much lower.
Secondly my OWiD link above demonstrates the headline in that article is another mistake. The Delta daily peak was around 3,200, while Omicron was about 2,600.
But this is all a diversion – the evidence that COVID has strong links to GoF research is every bit as reasonable as the emerged from nature hypothesis.
My point (“With ‘vaccines’ like that, who needs viruses.“), in case it wasn’t clear, is that the ‘Omicron vaccine’ is (way) more dangerous than the Pfizer vaccine, and the latter seems reasonably effective at keeping people above ground during an Omicron wave, provided they possess sufficient common sense to get boosted beforehand
I can just about stretch to "every bit as reasonable" if you can – how about it?
Let's just say that having read both Sharri Markson's What Really Happened in Wuhan and Alina Chan and Matt Ridley's Viral – I may well be a bit biased. Both books contain a lot of interesting material – and while it would be impossible for any authors to be absolutely definitive when dealing with such an opaque matter – the preponderance of evidence in my view still points to a lab origin.
But let me put it this way. If the natural origin hypothesis is eventually demonstrated to be true, what we will also know for certain is that after 15 years of intensive coronavirus hunting and testing by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, it turned out they were helpless to prevent an epidemic of the same in their own backyard. That would have to be a very great irony indeed.
I'll take that as a 'Yes'.
But let me put it this way. Despite tremendous and on-going advances in the sciences, technology, medicine, engineering, et al., this iteration of civilisation is essentially helpless to prevent or correct a myriad of human behaviour-based catastrophes, ranging from the personal to the global. Still, some good souls will keep trying, and I wish them luck.
I know, and appreciate, just how lucky I am
A selection from my gender critical twitter this morning, for those that might still be wondering why women don't want males in female only spaces. This isn't about trans women, it's about gender identity ideologues (of whateever GI) who insist that TW are literally women and who won't address the massive misogyny in their movement as MRAs and predatory males take advantage of the doors being opened.
https://twitter.com/poetsoup/status/1515719481980604424
https://twitter.com/DonovanCleckley/status/1515820147453353990
https://twitter.com/MForstater/status/1515723607715971074
https://twitter.com/janeclarejones/status/1515786822101651458
That's a UK Labour councillor in response to a feminist group askig for stories from the local body election campaigning. Feminists are running a grass roots campaign #respectmysex, which is asking candidates to answer the question "what is a woman?" Apparently people are starting to ask the question of party door knockers (there's now decent MSM coverage of the issues and there's been a shift away from No Debate, to an acknowledgement by media of the conflict of rights).
The councillor above just said that any male can now identify as a woman and be considered a woman. Why is it not obvious to left wing men how hugely problematic this is? I hope people are paying attention for the NZ 2023 election.
I recently read this as a library book: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/matthew-dancona-5/identity-ignorance-innovation/9781529303995/
Relevance comes from the interface between the first two factors. Ignorance is produced by ignoring stuff. For instance, males who ignore the motivational basis of trans identification are unlikely to realise they are supporting public policies of discrimination. Leftist males who support trans ideology can easily fall into a credibility trap. They think they are being politically correct. If women point out that they are exhibiting bigotry as a result they will be likely to take refuge in denial.
Leftists traditionally pose as do-gooders. Those who aren't hypocrites may even do good to validate their self-belief. Identity translating into behaviour appropriately. Triggering perception that they are doing bad while believing they are doing good therefore requires applied psychology way up there at the level of sophistication!
Dunno about relevance to the next election, but progress will probably hinge on group consciousness-raising around incidents that cause harm and produce victims. The latter are often too traumatised to be suitably advocates for change so victim support groups will need to do the advocacy.
I share your concern about potential harm but suspect publicity of actual harm done will be the only way that the sham of males pretending to be females can be exposed.
We don't have a grass roots gender critical feminist movement here like the UK. But there is potential for that. Or a group of left wing women asking the question next year and being willing to take the hits.
Re publicity of harm, I could write a post a week about this, but not without putting myself at risk. Left wing men probably don't realise just how long it's going to take to get past the fact that they have tried to silence women.
There's one thing we need to allow and one thing we need to prevent:
I am all ears for a way to do both these things. How do we do the second without also killing off the first? How do we do the first without also permitting the second?
These are very good questions and excellent framing, thank you. This is the conversation the left should be having instead of the sex/gender war.
Far out weka ! sounds like a ' too toxic 'environment for my liking ! changing the topic slightly why were you seemingly so anti musks takeova moves ?in a nutshell ?
Too much ego. Plus, his ideas on climate responses are problematic in that he seems to have no sense of nature and thinks we can put animals on the Mars zoo as a way to save their species. His space stuff is basically let's not bother about saving earth. He's a fully paid up member of the death cult as far as I can see, only he likes to think of himself as somehow green.
Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Gates, et al, they're all men with way too much power and at a time when society lets them do what they want. We could be using all that resource for stopping climate change, regenerating nature, and making sure people don't starve or get sold into the sex trade, but no, they want to accumulate wealth instead. Musk shouldn't be rewarded for that.
Plus the whole private vs public listing thing.
And to censor or not to censor ?
It’s the wrong question. Those power lingering dudes think it’s about tgat but it’s really about social and emotional intelligence and well-being. They have neither the skills nor the consciousness nor the ethics to run social media in ways that net benefit society. If we had any sense we’d take their toys away from them.
Muskie was dropped off on Earth as a baby and needs to build a really good space ship to get home.
And this is how gender non confirming kids are being lied to and irreversibly harmed by gender ideology. This is the result of No Debate (which prevented the safeguarding conversations that should have happened in the past decade), and of the affirmation only approach by medical people and therapists (kids aren’t getting the suppprt they need to sort out their shit before they are put on this life long path).
Expect lawsuits in the US. UK already had its own legal actions happening.
https://twitter.com/d_wprince/status/1515835867105054721?s=21
Bromeopathy; the woo-believer's remedy for fragile manliness.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1515817464533291018
You may think it nuts, but then again not entirely a load of bollocks.
I use an infrared rather than a gas heater outdoors but I'm not too sure how my drinking companions would react should I declare bromeopathy, and then irradiate my goolies.
Let us know how you get on
https://twitter.com/kimpossiblefact/status/1515513617600290818
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2020/07/16/where-does-british-public-stand-transgender-rights
Of course. It's expected that progressives would support trans rights.
Now look at what happens to women's position when the question is about trans women who have had no surgery being allowed to use women's changing rooms (in your link).
What do you think is going to happen when women generally find out that a) most trans women are pre-op, b) self ID means that any man can say at any time they are a woman and there is an expectation they will be accepted as such, and c) there is a class of men who cross dress as a sexual kink (are aroused by this and the thought of themselves as woman) who now claim to be trans women (thanks Stonewall).
Then, when they find out that young girls who are really lesbian have gone down a medical and surgical transition route (mastectomies and sometimes hysterectomy) because of affirmation only policies, and later regret it (and it doesn't resolve their dysphoria) so they detransition but are left with lifelong damage to their bodies.
If you want to ask progressive women what they think, then tell them the truth about the situation first. My guess is that they will support general rights for trans people along with everyone else, and will put in place boundaries around protecting women and children from the ideology that is causing problems. Both/and.
The detail of the poll is useful for their government decision-making process.
It's not at that level with Pew (USA) yet.
There is the same greater level of support from Democrat registered, women and youth.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/11/deep-partisan-divide-on-whether-greater-acceptance-of-transgender-people-is-good-for-society/
And males who transition because they were attracted to other males in the AIDS era.
The personal account covers all the issues you raise and relates it to the situation today.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/11/i-was-too-young-to-decide-about-transgender-surgery-at-nineteen/
(article gifted for sharing).
I have not yet watched all of this, but if it even close to the quality of his previous work it will be absolutely worth the hour and 50:
What about the good old days,the holiday in Las Vegas.
https://twitter.com/EvanKirstel/status/1515852092581236748?cxt=HHwWmMCy5czcsYkqAAAA
Inflation in Japan is expected to reach a 30yr high (excluding sales tax yrs) of 1.8%.A country that is a significant commodity importer and high quality goods exporter.
The low level of inflation is due to stable housing,transportation and health care costs due to population demographics.
The recent inflation is due to immigration into urban centres to meet labour shortages,and the prices of apartments increases are now what they were in 1992.
https://twitter.com/LHorowitz4/status/1515699236683325440
Well this is one less for the jail system that should please Kelvin Davis.
"Price was sentenced in November to two years and six months' jail on a total of 33 charges spanning several months."
So if he was sentenced to over two years in jail in November, how is it that he is out driving around in public? Did he escape?
One less oxygen thief.
Man shot by police in Taranaki named online by friends | Stuff.co.nz
High court judge quashed the sentence down to 23 months in February, making him eligible for home detention – which self-evidently failed to keep either him or the community safe.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/fatal-police-shooting-in-new-plymouth-victim-kaoss-price-has-been-described-as-one-man-crime-wave/SD7WN3SWYBNZVOMLUG5ILWU2FE/?l_id=146&objectid=12518442
Judge Grice quoted his chaotic family life as a significant factor – however, didn't seem to consider that this made him less suitable for home detention….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/127736657/judges-cites-chaotic-family-life-as-sentence-cut-for-a-man-named-kaoss
Thanks for that. IMO Justice Christine Grice should be held partly accountable. In fact if it was up to me, she would no longer be able to be a judge for say 5 years.
Also have to hope that his name "Kaoss" is self-bestowed – because otherwise his parents did him no favours…..
Nope. From age group champ to shot dead in less than ten years
Statistics often tell a story or two about sporting teams. The Toko under-12 rugby side is no exception.
Played 15, won 15. Points for 958, points against 66. Tries scored 171, tries conceded 12.
[…]
There was also Kaoss Price, who ripped opposition midfields to pieces on his way to being the team's top try scorer.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/features/7459807/THE-A-TEAM