Sunday, February 09, 2020

9 February - Blogs I'm Following - 5 of 5

10:07 pm MST

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 21 hours ago
*by Noah Sunday Thoughts:* On Thursday morning, before President Mental Case launched into his cursing, scorched earth, rage-filled shitshow in the East Room of the White House, he attended the National Prayer Breakfast. (That's where the original version of the above picture was taken). Instead of a spiritual message of humility, he used the opportunity to whine and try out some of his newest unhinged material. The breakfast, which started back in 1953, is traditionally a bipartisan event, and event where attendees traditionally check their worst politics at the door and concen... more »

Australian Daily Wind Power Generation Data – Saturday 8th February 2020

TonyfromOz at PA Pundits – International - 21 hours ago
By Anton Lang ~ This Post details the daily wind power generation data for the AEMO coverage area in Australia. For the background information, refer to the Introductory Post at this link. Each image is shown here at a smaller size to fit on the page alongside the data for that day. If you click […]

NYTimes Hails ‘Moderate’ Buttigieg, But Also Suggests Reporter Sexism

PA Pundits - International at PA Pundits – International - 21 hours ago
By Clay Waters ~ New York Times reporters Reid Epstein and Trip Gabriel trumpeted Pete Buttigieg’s top-tier Iowa caucus performance on Saturday’s front page in “How Buttigieg Became Surprise of Iowa Caucuses.” Plus: Are young male campaign reporters treating Buttigieg with “kid gloves” at Elizabeth Warren’s expense? Now, as the focus turns to New Hampshire […]

Greenpeace Abandons Science And Attacks Golden Rice

PA Pundits - International at PA Pundits – International - 21 hours ago
By Dr. Jay Lehr ~ Join me in a story that traveled two decades from 1999 to early this year, when efforts to reduce premature death and childhood blindness in the developing world may finally reach fruition. This can occur through the use of a special grain called Golden Rice. It’s daffodil like color occurs […]

Moaner Lisa

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 21 hours ago
From her interview with *The Sunday Times *today we learn that Labour leadership contender Lisa Nandy refuses to appear on *The Andrew Marr Show*: The Wigan MP, 40, has also declined to appear on the BBC’s *Andrew Marr* programme, filmed live in the capital on a Sunday, because it would mean being away from her partner, Andy Collis, and their son, Otis, 4. “I’ve refused to do it for the past three years because I won’t go down to London at the weekend, stay overnight on the Saturday, do a 10-minute interview and then come all the way back,” she says. First thought: How odd! Has sh... more »

The Best Is Yet To Come – Trump 2020

Hardnox at 'Nox & Friends - 21 hours ago
Very easily the president’s finest and most inspiring speech to date. Get ready for a LANDSLIDE in 2020!! Here’s to the FUTURE!

'Why am I trying to disturb the consciences and sense of justice of people who plainly have neither?'

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 22 hours ago
Peter Hitchens is one of those people with a longstanding attachment to the BBC. Its a BBC of the past and his imagination, of his memories and hopes. He can't bring himself to call for its abolition because, as he says, he loves what it used to be, and what it ought to be. But, as of this week (as he writes in today's *Mail on Sunday*), he no longer feels any inclination to defend it. Despite feeling that in the past two or three years "it has grown sharply worse" and that there has been "a crude slide into open partiality on so many things", the straw that finally broke his came... more »

Paper bag for Adam, please

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 22 hours ago
Sky's Adam Boulton is hyperventilating on our behalf in* The Sunday Times* today. *Number 10 is trying to control the media, and everyone in our democracy out to be afraid* gasps the headline. The piece then launches into a wheezy defence of the MSM, which he fears is being dangerously "downgraded". He partly blames the BBC for bringing this situation about, accusing the corporation of having "connived for their own selfish advantage" with this process of degradation. He's not wrong about the BBC's imperial swagger and occasional bloodlust towards its media rivals, but the ex... more »

Snap!

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 22 hours ago
The three-way tie suggested by the exit poll in the Irish general election between the Family of Gaels, Ourselves Alone and the Soldiers of Destiny reminds the presenter of BBC Radio 4's* Making History,* historian Tom Holland, of my favourite film scene: the three-way shootout at the climax of* The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.* Having thought that, Tom then had another thought: Obviously, if it DOES come to a shoot-out, one of those 3 parties will have a bit of an unfair advantage...

You Won't Believe How Powerful the Navy's New Railgun Is

TNI Staff at The National Interest - 22 hours ago
*TNI Staff* *Security, * [image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun#/media/File:Railgun_usnavy_2008.jpg] It could take off a mountain top. *Key Point:* The science of rail guns may have finally been unlocked. While the U.S. Navy had announced a few years back it would take a prototype railgun to sea onboard the expeditionary fast transport USNS *Trenton* (JHSV-5) in 2016, the service may have to scupper those plans. If the Navy does take the railgun out to sea on a fast transport, it will be in 2017 at the earliest. In lieu of testing the prototype rail gun in an at-sea envi... more »

Ebola Meets the Coronavirus: History Tells Us Not to Fear Immigrants

Kevin J.A. Thomas at The National Interest - 22 hours ago
*Kevin J.A. Thomas* *Environment, Eurasia* [image: Reuters] There is a legitimate fear that Americans might make immigrants the villain instead of the virus during the coronavirus epidemic. With coronavirus cases exploding in China, the U.S. is once again responding to a global epidemic. Five years ago, when the Ebola virus infected more than 28,000 people in 10 countries, many people were surprised to learn that four of these cases were diagnosed on U.S. soil. Based on research I conducted for a book about the Ebola crisis and prejudice against certain groups of people associate... more »

The Air Force Is Eying a Newer, Faster SR-71 Blackbird

Steve Weintz at The National Interest - 22 hours ago
*Steve Weintz* *Security, Americas* [image: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/686108/sr-71a-flight-view-tanker-during-airborne-refueling] Hypersonics here we come. *Key point: *Washington wants hypersonic fighters, spy planes, and bombers. So why not build upon the already-tested SR-71 and make an SR-72? Like a bolt out of the blue, Lockheed Martin’s renown Skunk Works publicly teased one of aviation’s great snark hunts—revealing plans for a successor to the SR-71, the legendary Mach-3 reconnaissance plane designed with slide rules and retired when the millennials were born. That ... more »

The M-14 Rifle Won't Quit After Sixty Years

Matthew Moss at The National Interest - 22 hours ago
*Matthew Moss* *Security, * [image: https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2011%3Anewsml_GM1E79O1GVS01&share=true] It was the U.S. Army's last battle rifle. *Key Point:* The M-14 is still carried into war by U.S. soldiers, even older models. Critics said the M-14 was what happened when the U.S. government took many years and spent millions of dollars designing a rifle that was really just a glorified M-1 Garand from World War II. The M-14 was the U.S. military’s last battle rifle. It appeared in 1959—the contemporary of the Pentagon’s first jet fighters and I... more »

Arizona Can Make One Simple Move To Slash HIV and Hepatitis Infections

Jeffrey A. Singer at The National Interest - 22 hours ago
*Jeffrey A. Singer* *Politics, Americas* [image: A nurse fills a syringe with a vaccine before administering an injection at a kids clinic in Kiev, Ukraine August 14, 2019. Picture taken August 14, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko] Why haven't they already? Today I provided written and oral testimony before the Arizona House Health Committee regarding a bill that would allow syringe services programs (SSPs)to operate legally within the state. Arizona is one of 20 states that do not explicitly authorize syringe services programs and/​or have drug paraphernalia laws that prevent syr... more »

Why the Coronavirus Reminds Us of the Lesson of SARS

Yuan Jiang at The National Interest - 22 hours ago
*Yuan Jiang* *Security, Asia* [image: Reuters] Compared to SARS, the new endemic has spread more rapidly due to the increasing frequency and quantity of Chinese people traveling all over the world. The spread of the coronavirus has sparked global panic, causing more than 350 deaths and over seventeen thousand infections globally. The origin of this tragedy is purportedly from consuming wild animals in local Chinese seafood markets, a tradition that has occurred for centuries. Since the epidemic broke out, the world media, and some of my friends, have blamed the penchant of Chine... more »

Is China Ready To Play Ball On Arms Control?

Rod Lyon at The National Interest - 22 hours ago
*Rod Lyon* *Security, Asia* [image: Military vehicles carrying hypersonic missiles DF-17 travel past Tiananmen Square during the military parade marking the 70th founding anniversary of People's Republic of China, on its National Day in Beijing, China October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee] They've sidestepped this game before. China increasingly finds itself depicted as the bête noire of nuclear arms control. The US government has said the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty collapsed because of Chinese actions outside the treaty and not merely Russian violations inside it. Mo... more »

February 9th – 2020 Presidential Politics – Trump Administration Day #1116

sundance at The Last Refuge - 22 hours ago
In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and … Continue reading →

Sunday February 9th – Open Thread

sundance at The Last Refuge - 22 hours ago
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those … Continue reading →

Meet the tower watchers — the first line of defence against bushfires

Mark Bennett at Just In - 22 hours ago
While satellites with high-powered cameras and thermal devices are making life easier to see fires from space, the quickest way to detect fires is a lot closer to Earth.

Ian Thorpe says 'now is the time' as Olympians dive in to support bushfire relief

Kelly Fuller at Just In - 22 hours ago
Ian Thorpe says a better climate strategy is needed as bushfires become more frequent. He is among Australian Olympic swimming champions volunteering their time to raise funds for bushfire relief at a unique swim clinic in Wollongong.

Bushfire destroys Katanning home as it rips through WA's Great Southern region

Jon Daly at Just In - 22 hours ago
At least one home has been lost in a bushfire which descended on the Western Australian town of Katanning yesterday, ripping through 4,500 hectares of farmland and scrub.

Australia battles through to T20I tri-series final with victory over England

Just In - 22 hours ago
Australia beats England to reach the final of the international tri-series off the back of an exceptional bowling performance from Sophie Molineux at Junction Oval.

Here's how many minutes an Oscar winner gets before the music starts

Emily Sakzewski And Peta Fuller at Just In - 22 hours ago
With the most biggest — and arguably most important — awards ceremony of the year soon upon us, we asked you what you wanted to know about the Oscars — like just how much time do winners get before they're played off the stage?

Thai soldier killed after going on shopping centre shooting spree, leaving 26 dead

Just In - 22 hours ago
A soldier is shot dead by security forces at the shopping mall where he was holed up after he carried out a shooting rampage that left at least 26 people dead and 57 injured.

This weekend’s Snow Moon will be 2020’s first supermoon

White Wolf at White Wolf - 22 hours ago
As we hit our mid-winter stride, our next full moon will be the Snow Moon and it will be officially full about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. This is the first of three supermoons to grace the skies in 2020 - moons that appear just a little larger than a regular full moon. Having a full moon that peaks early Sunday means we will get a whole weekend of full-moon skywatching, explained Gordon Johnston in a recent NASA solar system blog. “The Moon will appear full for about three days centered around this time, from Friday evening to Monday morning, making this a full Moon weekend.” Other names ... more »

"Chengdu On Lockdown As Coronavirus Deaths Hit 813, Surpassing Total From 2003 SARS Outbreak"

CoyotePrime at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 23 hours ago
*"Chengdu On Lockdown As Coronavirus Deaths Hit 813, * *Surpassing Total From 2003 SARS Outbreak"* by Tyler Durden *"Summary:* • Hubei officials reported an additional 81 deaths in Hubei on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 806: more than the total from the entire 2002-2003 SARS outbreak. • Lockdown spreads to Chengdu, China's sixth largest city (14.4. million). • A little later, China's National Health commission reported that there were a total of 811 deaths across China, an increase of 89 overnight - the biggest one-day increase yet - while 2,649 discharged patients were cured. ... more »

Could ‘Big Black Cock’ be Niagara Falls’ next economic development strategy?

The Buffalo Chronicle at The Buffalo Chronicle - 23 hours ago
One-third of Canada’s population lives within 90 miles of Niagara Falls, and half of that population are women. Some of them are married, many of them are single — but a booming Ontario economy, with strong labor laws, has ensured

Ill-fated quality control officer for Peanut Corp of America freed from federal custody

Dan Flynn at Food Safety News - 23 hours ago
Mary Wilkerson, quality control officer for the defunct Peanut Corporation of America, is free atter serving a 5-year federal prison sentence for obstruction of justice. Wilkerson, 46 of Edison, GA., was released from a re-entry center, or half-way house, in Atlanta earlier this week. Her full release date was moved up by one month to... Continue Reading

FSANZ wants comments on planned produce rules

News Desk at Food Safety News - 23 hours ago
Authorities in Australia are calling for comments on a plan to develop a primary production and processing standard for high-risk horticulture. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)’s proposal will consider the development of a primary production and processing (PPP) standard for high-risk horticulture as part of a broader review of Chapter 3 and 4 of... Continue Reading

International Response To The Coronavirus Outbreak -- News Updates February 9, 2020

War News Updates Editor at War News Updates - 23 hours ago
*Daily Mail: **US embassy staff in hazmat suits board a State Department plane in Wuhan to check passengers heading for quarantine on the West Coast as the first American coronavirus death is confirmed and the global death toll soars to 724* * US embassy staff in hazmat suits were seen boarding a State Department plane home from Wuhan Friday * Shocking pictures taken during the boarding process of the cargo plane at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on February 7 show staff dressed in white hazmat suits and masks and blue 'U.S. Embassy' bibs * The first coronavirus death of a... more »

Quote of the Day

vonMesser at 'Nox & Friends - 23 hours ago

Immigration Expert Reveals Consequences of Bringing Refugees to the U.S.

Hardnox at 'Nox & Friends - 23 hours ago
This is a great interview. How much does it cost American taxpayers to bring refugees into the USA? Congress screwed local jurisdictions and left local jurisdictions holding the bag? You bet they did. Ever wonder why our property taxes keep climbing faster than anything else? Add to that, State and local taxes for income, sales, licensing, etc. It’s insane. ~ Hardnox

Rudy Giuliani Discusses the Evidence of Corruption The DOJ and Congress are Intentionally Ignoring….

sundance at The Last Refuge - 23 hours ago
Rudy Giuliani has spent over a year gathering evidence of wide-scale corruption, money laundering and fraudulently created political operations deployed against Donald Trump. Unfortunately, because of the successful defense strategies of an alliance of interests: Obama White House officials, democrats, … Continue reading →

ELECTRICITY FUTURE : Coal, Nuclear or Chaos

Jamie Spry at Climatism - 23 hours ago
“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?” – Maurice Strong, founder of UNEP “Giving society cheap, abundant energy would be the equivalent of giving an idiot child a machine gun.” – Prof Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University / Royal Society fellow *** IN the collective age of ClimateChange™️ […]

CNN: Florida’s War on Weeds is Killing Fish and Supercharging Red Tide, Opponents Say

Erin Elizabeth at Health Nut News - 1 day ago
On any given day, a squadron of airboats and helicopters spread out across Florida’s freshwaters to spray tank after tank of toxic herbicide. Millions of gallons of poison pour into the state’s rivers and lakes. Officials say without it, Florida would be overcome with weeds. But a growing voice of fishermen, hunters, naturalists, and activists […] The post CNN: Florida’s War on Weeds is Killing Fish and Supercharging Red Tide, Opponents Say appeared first on Health Nut News.

Kaddish Time For The Biden Campaign?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
The caucus goers I saw interviewed on TV seemed like dull-witted zombies who were incapable of explaining their candidate preferences other than by parroting campaign talking points, usually word for word. But in his funeral oration for the Status quo Joe campaign in *The Atlantic* yesterday, Blaine Dodfrey found a sentient being at the Burlington caucus who he quoted. Noting that there wasn't a single person causing for Biden, Dodfrey asked Lonnie Herbert, a 50-year-old forklift driver, to explain. Donnie sounded smarter than most of the MSNBC correspondents. "Biden wants to go ba... more »

Anger Grows In China As Death Toll From Coronavirus Grows

War News Updates Editor at War News Updates - 1 day ago
*VOA: **As Death Toll From Virus Grows, More Chinese Voice Anger* Three months ago, Wuhan resident Zhang Yi was sitting next to two local Hubei province reporters at a restaurant. He overheard them talking about the Provincial Party Committee secretary, who was upset about a news story. The official told the reporters negative stories would no longer be published. A month later, a mysterious virus started spreading though Wuhan’s residents, causing pneumonia-like symptoms. In early January, Chinese officials called this new virus “preventable and controllable.” They said they h... more »

Product Review: An Unrefined Sea Salt Free From Microplastics and Other Junk

Nick Meyer at AltHealthWorks.com - 1 day ago
With so many different brands of salt out there claiming to be healthy, how can you know which one to buy? A lot depends on the sourcing of the salt, as a recent study reported on by National Geographic found that there’s a 90 percent chance you ingested plastic microparticles if you use or cook with salt in any type of way, according to a review of 39 brands of salts from 16 different countries. In order to provide an alternative, John Cawrse, founder of the brand Ava Jane’s Kitchen, set out to create a product that was 100% safe and tested to be microplastic-free, and the ... more »

Wuhan Coronavirus In China -- News Updates February 2, 2020

War News Updates Editor at War News Updates - 1 day ago
*Daily Mail:* *Coronavirus death toll hits 805 as virus claims more lives than 2003 SARS outbreak - as Beijing starts rounding up sufferers and videos show hazmat suit-clad goons dragging people from their homes* * A total of 774 died in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak between 2002 and 2003 * Comes as a clip believed to be in Changqing Garden, Wuhan, shows man sprinting away from officials * Five more Britons, including a 9-year-old boy, have virus in France after one of them went to Singapore * Another clip, said to be taken in Suzhou, shows suspected coron... more »

Too Big To Jail?…

sundance at The Last Refuge - 1 day ago
According to reports late last year U.S. Attorney John Durham and U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr were spending time on a narrowed focus looking carefully at CIA activity in the 2016 presidential election. One quote from a media-voice increasingly sympathetic … Continue reading →

Big Buttigieg Bloviations: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

Caitlin Johnstone at Caitlin Johnstone - 1 day ago
Prediction: if Sanders somehow manages to win the primary, a majority of the centrist pundits screaming “vote blue no matter who” at Bernie supporters right now will help amplify smear campaigns against him and undermine his campaign against Trump. ~ The UK media’s shrieking, deceitful […]

Musical Interlude: Adiemus, “In Caelum Fero”

CoyotePrime at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
Adiemus, “In Caelum Fero” "In caelum fero"... to the wild heavens.

"A Look to the Heavens"

CoyotePrime at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
“This colorful skyscape features the dusty, reddish glow of Sharpless catalog emission region Sh2-155, the Cave Nebula. About 2,400 light-years away, the scene lies along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus. *Click image for larger size.* Astronomical explorations of the region reveal that it has formed at the boundary of the massive Cepheus B molecular cloud and the hot, young, blue stars of the Cepheus OB 3 association. The bright rim of ionized hydrogen gas is energized by the radiation from the hot stars, dominated by the bright... more »

Cameron Elections: Violence And Calls For An Election Boycott This Sunday

War News Updates Editor at War News Updates - 1 day ago
*AFP:* *Cameroon elections overshadowed by boycott and violence* aoundé (AFP) - Voters in Cameroon will cast their ballots Sunday in a country where the mood has been darkened by separatist violence and calls for an election boycott. Elections to renew the central African country's legislature and local councils are taking place for the first time in seven years, after two postponements. Despite the delays, the campaigning has been low key. In the capital Yaounde, the few banners put up by the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC in its French initials) are barely m... more »

Perfection: The Air Force Would Love 200 New B-21 Stealth Bombers

Kyle Mizokami at The National Interest - 1 day ago
*Kyle Mizokami* *Security, Americas* [image: https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2001%3Anewsml_PBEAHUKXBCF&share=true] Or maybe overkill? *Key point: *The Air Force will eventually have an even more advanced B-21 bomber. At that point, why not build a lot more and phase out the old B-2? On October 27, 2015, nearly thirty-four years to the day after Northrop Grumman was awarded the contract to develop the first stealth bomber, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop a contract for a new bomber: the B-21 Raider. While many of the details of the Raider are shroude... more »

Should the Coronavirus Be Classified As A Pandemic?

Brian Labus at The National Interest - 1 day ago
*Brian Labus* *Security, * We answer four questions. *1. What is a pandemic?* When a disease outbreak, or epidemic, crosses international boarders and spreads across a wide region, we public health professionals typically call it a pandemic. The term “pandemic” tells us that the outbreak is occurring in many places but says nothing about its severity. Because of their wide geographic distribution, pandemics usually affect a large number of people. While we usually think of pandemics in relation to serious, life-threatening diseases, even outbreaks of mild diseases could cross b... more »

Trump's Trade Tussle With China Is Indicative of a Future Free Market Failure

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller at The National Interest - 1 day ago
*Joergen Oerstroem Moeller* *economy, Americas* [image: Reuters] The United States, as a high priest of free markets, is now adopting a command economy reminiscent of the Soviet-style, which most of us thought was outmaneuvered more than thirty years ago. President Donald Trump’s latest twist in the ongoing trade war with China reveals the core philosophy of his thinking. It is about bilateral barters. And only titans having economies suitable to barter trade count in this game. Multilateralism is out. So is the basic idea of trading via money buying from one country and selling ... more »

Transatlantic Clash of the Titans: What America and China Will Fight Over Next

Peter Rudolf at The National Interest - 1 day ago
*Peter Rudolf* *economy, Americas* [image: Reuters] If the economic interdependence between the United States and China dissolves, economic blocs or closed economic spaces emerge and a process of economic de-globalization begins. In the course of such a bipolarization of the international system, Europe would find itself in a difficult situation. Contrary to what the NATO summit meeting last December might have indicated, China will hardly become the new glue holding the transatlantic alliance together. On the contrary: The emerging Sino-American world conflict bears the risk to... more »

Put Yourself in an Immigrants Shoes (No American Should Fear Them)

Brandon Bouchillon at The National Interest - 1 day ago
*Brandon Bouchillon* *Culture, * People fear and mistrust what they don’t know – including people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. People fear and mistrust what they don’t know – including people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. That lack of trust causes social and political divisions in the U.S. and around the world, especially when it comes to immigrants. Inspired by research in Hungary that found computer games could help players reduce their prejudice toward immigrants, my colleague Patrick Stewart devised a role-playing game as part of an American national go... more »

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