News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine …
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November 12, 2025
Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2025-263
Comments
Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 13 2025 1:09 utc | 104
Salud Karl, Colombia, the great gringo battle ship during so many years has been lost by the Caribbean Filibusteros, thanks daddy yankee, you’re doing a lot for the revival of the Gran Colombia, the one you broke in pieces to get a hold of Panama and the Channel. And that is something nobody talks about, the channel could be blocked if Venezuela is attacked. Yankee filibustero is risking a lot, time will tell.
How about Corriere de la Sera not publishing Lavrov’s interview? Democracy and freedom of the press have limits.
Posted by: Paco | Nov 14 2025 6:23 utc | 301
There is misrepresentation and then there is Reuters
China’s economy jolted by weakest factory output, retail sales growth in over a year
From Xinhuanet
China’s industrial output up 4.9 pct in October
BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — China’s value-added industrial output expanded 4.9 percent year on year in October, official data showed on Friday.
In the first 10 months of this year, China’s industrial output increased by 6.1 percent compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises, each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars).
A breakdown of the data showed that the manufacturing sector’s value-added output increased by 4.9 percent year on year last month, while that of the mining sector grew by 4.5 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply sectors rose by 5.4 percent.
From US Logistics Management
Manufacturing output heads down in October, for eighth consecutive month, reports ISM
I wonder if Reuters uses AI to make up their BS?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 14 2025 6:44 utc | 303
Sorry b for the rant and thanks for all your efforts….commenting works just fine and us old dogs just need to learn new tricks
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 14 2025 6:47 utc | 305
$29B 30-Y auction tails.
Weak 30yr Bond Auction Amid a “Sell Everything” Day – Is De-Dollarization Back? ==> https://youtu.be/nNfXi2bWaFU
Posted by: too scents | Nov 14 2025 6:55 utc | 306
psychohistorian | Nov 14 2025 6:44 utc | 316
I generally check Reuters each day for my daily dose of propaganda. Its amazing though how many believe the crap the western media pumps out.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 7:02 utc | 307
Japan invites Chinese nukes to visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202511/1348117.shtml
Read the last sentence.
Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Nov 14 2025 7:08 utc | 308
Johan Kaspar | Nov 14 2025 7:08 utc | 321
The Reuters propaganda – anything to do with Taiwan and they put in the misleading blurb “Which China claims as its own”. They don’t bother to explaine to their dumbfuck rearship that the Rock government which only controls the island province of Taiwan claim to be the government of all of China and 13 pissant nations recognise them as such.
The term R.O.C has long been flushed down the memory hole by western media. Before Trump 1.0 and the abyss fully turned its evil eye on China, on the id plate on an electric motor, it had made in ROC. I had to think about it for a bit because it is a long time since made in ROC became made in Taiwan. Trying to think how long since that change occurred – my best guess is it changed around the early eighties. The Americans set up their puppet DPP party in 86 according to wikipedia so its likely then that ‘Made in ROC’ became ‘Made in Taiwan’.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 7:27 utc | 309
Away from geopolitics and name changers.
Opal prospecting with a gamma ray bore hole looking tool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y0Wy9dJhyw&t=11s
After seeing that, I looked into it. It seems in the early 2000’s a CSIRO scientist developed/adapted them for opal prospecting. Virtually unknown in the opal world. Black lighting is very common at the likes of Coober Pedy, Andamooka and White Cliffs and works well there as the uranium content causes opal to fluoresce under UV light.
I looked into it when I saw that video with the gamma ray logging tool. Apparently, opal requires trace uranium to form. All opal it seems contains trace uranium. UV does no work on Lightning Ridge and Queensland boulder opal as other trace elements prevent the fluorescence from occurring.
Looking up the gamma ray detectors, I found a company that made them. All different shapes and sizes, Bore hole loggers, Large units to hang under a full size aircraft, large units to mount on a 4WD or ATV, small units mounted on drones and handheld units.
Gold detecting, I tried that for several months with a minelab 4500.
One of the opal video channels I watched would do a bit of pillar bashing. A term I learned there. Going down the old mines and looking for opal or trace in the walls and pillars. Often a bit of wall or ceiling had broken away to reveal opal that whoever had tunneled there had just missed by a few inches.
I had been researching all this stuff on opal, but I’m slow on the uptake. Prospecting the old shaft and tunnel mines with a hand held gamma ray detector, scanning all surfaces would be the way to go for a bit of fossicking.
Black light only works on a few fields and the opal has to be exposed, but a gamma ray detector would work the same on any field and see the opal that is still buried that those digging blind had narrowly missed.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 8:08 utc | 310
Plato’s achievement was his Academy – he wasn’t telling students what to think but rather encouraging them to think.
And I will give you that point! The other one about his letting himself be served by slaves, which you’ve made earlier, carries a weight as well. Yes, they’re different thinkers, and different people also.
I do not aim to idolize the man. It’s rather that the history of thought is much deformed in the way it is taught today, and this is a critical junction for many important reasons. Not only the philosophical, but also the political past and presence of the west is inseperable from the church of Rome, and unless we start to disentangle some of these knots I fear we will remain stuck in some late remnants of the middle ages. Well, it’s apparent, isn’t it?
But this term, nous, is by itself absolutely fascinating too. I suspect it connects a lot more than just the Athens school from Socrates to Plotinus at least; it is conceptually so so close to eastern teachings such as by Mani, but also by Buddha … I wonder what role Alexander’s journey plays in all this. Long after he had left again they were building Graeco style architecture out to what is today in India. That topic might be worth a comment here or two, but I’m not firm enough in these matters to write them out.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 8:32 utc | 311
There is indeed death and corruption in nature but I would hesitate to call it evil.
What would you call it then, juliania? I’m not saying that I am fixed about this term here, on the contrary – it has me puzzled, and sometimes I am being more playful than trying to be correct … heck, I even use intentionally false grammar every now and then to be able to paint over a difficult point for the sake of wider outlines from a broad brush! which I’m sure you would have noticed.
Edith Stein frames it beautifully in her last writing, avoiding the problem by flipping the argument around: Man can only be free in spirit (Geist) alone, but never within nature. That’s another rough ad hoc translation, but I think it carries the idea well for our current context.Der Mensch kann nur in geistigen Sphären frei sein, niemals aber in der Natur. – IIRC
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 8:51 utc | 312
persiflo | Nov 14 2025 8:32 utc | 319
Those ancient libraries scatter around the Mediterranean and through to Persia. All long gone. Within those libraries would have been the traces of many who reached into the unknown. Ancient China. The script dug up by archaeologists is still quite readable to those who read Chinese writing/script today. Extra characters are now added, but there is a conformity or a continuance of a civilization that has lasted through the millenia.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 8:51 utc | 313
Man can only be free in spirit (Geist) alone, but never within nature.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 8:51 utc | 320
—
Why would anyone fight against Nature? That is just stupid.
Posted by: too scents | Nov 14 2025 9:13 utc | 314
When you compare the so called bullshit right wing populists in London with the bullshit right wing populists in Washington. The 3 card monte is so obvious.
In the UK, the attacks on Muslims is relentless on GB news,Yet, look who was just sitting in the Whitehouse with Trump. Nigel Farage would meet al-jolani in the same fashion after attacking the Muslim community in the UK for over 3 years.
Right wing populist values are to bomb the Middle East off the Map. Stop the boats as families try to escape the bombings while treating al-jolani like a hero. Yet, complete morons think that right wing populism is going to save them from the neocons.
The fascist, libtard wings of politics is sick. A rotting corpse of evil. Voters are just mammals herded by dog whistles. You have Rhinos and Neocon fascists as their hearts full with darkness.
Posted by: Clouds Of Alabama | Nov 14 2025 9:39 utc | 315
There is indeed death and corruption in nature but I would hesitate to call it evil.
What would you call it then, juliania?
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 8:51 utc | 320
In this thing we call nature, everything has to eat. In the thing we call civilization, greed arises. People that want more than they can eat. People that want power over all things.
Philosophy. I spent times with and came to respect the oldest human society on earth.
Voicing some thoughts rather than being disparaging or anything like that. Spending time with the raw realities of living with nature, spending time sitting on the veranda with Wallace and him telling me what whitey’s call dreamtime stories. Straight out oral history going back thousands of years, most of which I could not make heads nor tails of. then one day he told me a story in the fashion. But it was more recent, he pointed to a young boy playing and said ‘I was that old ‘.
The Wood river UCL on maps. The wood river catchment area. No aboriginals claim it. Those that lived there were all mustered into a gorge and shot. Men women and children. I flew it all and there was only three places it could have occurred. That place over the Leopolds was called the underworld. The last frontier in oz. At that time, two and a half decades ago, it was still in living memory. Quite likely some participants were still alive at that time.
So many massacres have gone unrecorded. It was a few years later I looked into that dreamtime story. That was something I would have liked to have done, the place would easily be found with a metal detector. Remnants of brass casings, copper sheathed lead projectiles would all be there. No doubt, once they were found, remnants of the bones of those people would also be found.
My thoughts running amok I guess. In nature, this thing we call evil does not exist. Though in saying that the Asian dog that appeared in Australia 4 or 6000 years ago exists for the hunt especially in sheep and goat country where white mans tucker is plentiful.
But in general, in nature, there is the need to eat. In this thing we call civilization, greed arises.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 9:46 utc | 316
Clouds Of Alabama | Nov 14 2025 9:39 utc | 323
The left and right terminology of our glorious western civilization came through. Left and right. Nothing more than horse shit for the peasants who grow like mushrooms. Horse shit has a lot of nitrogen. For green leafy veg or lawns or mushrooms or peasants, it works well.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 9:55 utc | 317
a – as. bloody hell,. will have to get the Trojan wars bloke to do some editing for me. No good cranking a clown while putting in typos.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 10:10 utc | 318
WARNING: Contains physics. May contain traces of nut.
Hot bodies radiate EM waves at wavelengths determined by their temperature in Kelvin ( 0C = 273K. 0K is Absolute zero).
Stefan’s Law (sometimes called Stefan-Boltzmann Law) states that the amount of radiation (intensity) is proportional to the fourth power of the temperature in Kelvin. The fourth power is a rapidly increasing function – you’ve seen how much extra heat is radiated as the temperature of heated metal increases – this just tells you how much. Surfaces can vary in their efficiency of radiation – even though the actual wavelength is always determined by temperature. Think of aluminium and cast iron – which would you use when building a radiator (and partly the reason why you can’t tell the temperature of hot aluminium like you can with steel by its glow)? The ‘effectiveness’ of radiation of a surface is called its ’emissivity’. Stefan’s Law here (don’t punish yourself with later sections! ):
https://byjus.com/jee/stefan-boltzmann-law/
The characteristics of radiation profiled are given by Wein’s Displacement Law:
https://wwelsh.sdsu.edu/CLASSES/ASTROBIO/LECTURES/wien_law.pdf
Wein’s Law tells us the peak wavelength (the wavelength of the strongest part of the spectrum – or color – emitted) as a function of temperature in Kelvin. In the first graph, the dotted line shows the brightest color emitted. An object at 3000K will glow faintly reddish while most of the radiation is in the infrared. At 5000K the peak wavelength is red, but the object would appear bright yellow, since our eyes are more sensitive to yellow than red, even though the intensity is lower. Notice how quickly the intensity of the peak wavelength increases as temperature increases.
These laws are used in thermal cameras, and applications as diverse as optical pyrometers for non-contact/remote measuring of furnace temperatures to measuring the temperatures of stars.
Peter – if this sort of thing is of no interest, please tell me and I won’t bother! – I won’t be offended
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 10:35 utc | 319
~ PHILOSOPHY TEST! ~
Every participant will be awarded the Persiflo’s Medal of Philosophizzlement, along with a personal commendation for various qualities of the return.
A1 – Which is more desperate: Man or Nature? Ponder the question.
A2 – Discuss Kierkegaard’s opinion on this issue.
B – What is Freedom? Formulate an opinion in no more than three sentences.
C – Is Man a part of Nature? Use both the terms Will and God in your answer.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 10:42 utc | 320
Philosophizzlement
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 10:42 utc | 329
—
Z99 — Under what conditions is transhumanism sustainable?
Posted by: too scents | Nov 14 2025 10:49 utc | 321
Peter – if this sort of thing is of no interest, please tell me and I won’t bother! – I won’t be offended
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 10:35 utc | 328
You gotta be joking.
As for this. WARNING: Contains physics. May contain traces of nut.
Do what you do best. Americans are addicted to funny stuff, high tech majic muchrooms, but I’m addicted to the more mundane stuff like physics and the world leading tech we see sailing in a plasma sheath.
I do like opal though. Finding those gems that flash fire in the twilight.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 10:54 utc | 323
That place over the Leopolds was called the underworld. The last frontier in oz. At that time, two and a half decades ago, it was still in living memory. Quite likely some participants were still alive at that time.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 9:46 utc | 324
*******************
It’s surprising how much of Australia was ‘undiscovered’ (at least by white fellas) until very recently. My wife and I were roaming through the top end shortly after The Bungle Bungles (Purnululu) was ‘discovered’ in 1983. Spectacular country. Hard to get to – there were no roads then. We walked right up to the plunge pool at the end (beginning?) of Picaninny Creek.
Some pictures for those who may not have been there:
https://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/bungle-bungles.html
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1094/
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 10:58 utc | 324
Since Trump has now officially decided to wage war on Venezuela (and Cuba and Columbia)
it seems evident, that the recent Epstein leaks were released by the US deep state and not the zionists. Else war on Iran would have received priority. Bibi might be worried, as things might not run smoothly in Venezuela and that would give Iran even more time to prepare. Time is on Iran’s side.
Nobody doubts that the USA can destroy a lot of stuff in Venezuela. But what if Venezuela manages to destroy a US ship? Success is not symmetrical. If Maduro or a designated successor stays in power, the USA will have lost the war. This war might drag on much longer than the zionists have time for their attack on Iran.
As I said before, the zionists might concentrate on their greater Israel project and not risk the military confrontation with Iran. Should they still consider it, their window of opportunity is closing fast. With the latest statements from the US, it seems even more likely to me that we will have a war on Venezuela but none on Iran.
Posted by: Hamburger | Nov 14 2025 11:10 utc | 325
Example answers for the philosophy test:
A1 – Which is more desperate: Man or Nature? Ponder the question.
Man, I gotta pee. Fuck this test, I’m going home.
A2 – Discuss Kierkegaard’s opinion on this issue.
No.
B – What is Freedom? Formulate an opinion in no more than three sentences.
This is an interesting question. I may come back to it when I have time.
C – Is Man a part of Nature? Use both the terms Will and God in your answer.
God willing I’ll be home soon, log on to the internet and watch the Simpsons until kingdom come. Go fuck yourself, persiflo.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 11:12 utc | 326
LoveDonbass (234).
At least we can agree on that.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Nov 14 2025 11:19 utc | 327
General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 10:58 utc | 333
Yeah. Some amazing places. No denigration or anything, but I have never been one to follow the beaten tourist track. Its just what I am.
In that was a pic off a river crossing. When the Hann (probably spelled that wrong to, but a major tributary to the Fitzroy)was up, there was no going to town.
Old jerry the bloke I stayed with that wet season over there, he was the last to walk a mob down the Tanimi. He knew the bloke that ran the mail from Oonaddatta to Birdsville.
Moving down here, fixing shit for my mate. Often he got in tradies specializing in a brand name. Some were exceptionally good and good to talk to. The vast majority though dumb as dogshit. Even when I could no longer still physically work, when all else had failed, he would call me. The ghostbusters, not sure about that but I sure fucked a few clowns with tickets and nothing else.
But now I’m simply Sir Drinkalot that crawled out from under the kitchen table to recieve a full frontal from leg humping luver boy. Such is life I guess. Just do what you do best.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 11:23 utc | 328
~ PHILOSOPHY TEST! ~ Every participant will be awarded the Persiflo’s Medal of Philosophizzlement, along with a personal commendation for various qualities of the return. Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 10:42 utc | 329
OK – I’ll bite, with two caveats: firstly, I know nothing about philosophy, and secondly, I recently mentioned to my youngest son that if I had my time over again I would like to be a philosopher. He looked me straight in the eye and said “If you want to be a philosopher, you are.” I couldn’t work out whether his comment was inane or profound, so I just tried to act impressed..
A1 – Which is more desperate: Man or Nature? Ponder the question.
Nature is more desperate, since it has no concept of desperation; and because it has no concept of desperation it is therefore profoundly desperate.
A2 – Discuss Kierkegaard’s opinion on this issue.
Kierkegaard see’s despair is the absence of hope, and hopelessness leads to desperation, which just leads the sufferer to sin more since being desperate exacerbates the state of sin, and so on. This positive feedback loop – which is actually negative if one ponders too deeply – but nonetheless… – this merry-go-round (Note: Kierkegaard was unfamiliar with merry-go-rounds) continues to spin until the sufferer is weighed in the balances at the Final Judgement.
B – What is Freedom? Formulate an opinion in no more than three sentences.
Freedom is an illusion engendered by the sole ability to remain perfectly still. One only feels the chains of constraint when one moves.
C – Is Man a part of Nature? Use both the terms Will and God in your answer.
Will God judge me harshly if I say no? Maybe nature is a part of Man?
Thanks Persiflo, it’s fun to fly blindly into unknown territory. I hope I didn’t crash and burn!
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 11:24 utc | 329
God willing I’ll be home soon, log on to the internet and watch the Simpsons until kingdom come. Go fuck yourself, persiflo. Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 11:12 utc | 335
You and General can still raise a laugh from me in these sombre days of bullshit.
I crawled out from under the kitchen table early only to be hit with a Wisco full frontal, the fuckwit thought he was opening his overcoat to an old woman sitting on a park bench. The level of thinking in those clowns I simply do not understand.
The so called collapse of the west. I look at those about me. Ukroid cannon fodder. I posted this at smoothies blog a few drinks ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 11:46 utc | 330
The General be herewith decorated with the Persiflo’s Medal of Philosophizzlement – Congratulations! – and may call himself a philosopher. Pro tip: Be careful where you share this attribution!
Your answer of A correctly gives the famous reasoning by Kierkegaard.
In B, you are presenting with an error which resembles the faulty computation of a limit value; the limit in this case is non-existent. This has been proven by Heraklitos in his famous theorem You can’t even sit still for once!
As for C, your line of thinking will be worthwhile and interesting, but should be continued beyond the Fear of God; for on the occassion of your final judgement you will be asked to make your point in defense anyway.
All in all, a good effort which shows familiarity with the literature and Ansatz of independent thinking.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 11:56 utc | 331
I see Vulva Petrus missed me over the last few hours. Well how hypocritical are you,Vulva,when you know B scrubbed my posts for love of you. And not looking silly for leaving you up, and my factual take on you- after you shot Into to the shadows like the proverbial Fucken New Guy you really are-being removed.
Don’t know who Dire Straits or leghumper are , but they have much better emotional intelligence than u will ever have. They got you dead to rights.
Don’t agree with Canuck that Fatscrotum is sneaky, but Fats certainly fucked up trying to be Petrus’ mate. Fok,even rhyming slang thinks I’m Wisco. Do none of them have any brains for analysis or asking b to check ips and stuff? I guess it would be embarrassing for b to admit here that the guy he did get rid of wasn’t wisco, or one of the real trolls or fuckwits.
Hey bogan vulva , why don’t you let loose another one of your famous”Fuck off” repartees? You misanthropic afterbirth.
I may just make come on every so often when you really deserve a bollocking.
How twisted are you mate, to publicly pine for me in so many posts after b removed my comments anyway. All knowing I am now not allowed back on. You sure like taking on a man when he has his arm tied behind his back don’t ya, you paranoid alco ponce . I wonder what your reasonable veteran mates think of your behaviour in their heart of hearts when they are just dropping off to sleep?
Posted by: Drongos thought I am wisco. | Nov 14 2025 12:10 utc | 332
Taxes…
When you look at the right wing populists in the UK scream at tax rises and attack the libtards. Using their tax payer money myths, deficit myths and debt myths all rolled into their ” sound money ” affordability myth.
Then compare how they view Trumps tax rises ( tariffs) which is nothing more than tax rises on the US businesses.
My neighbours pet rabbit can see the right wing populist scam taking place. Voters who are easily herded mammals not so much. Right wing populism is rolling around in sewage and full of hypocritical bullshit.
Posted by: Clouds Of Alabama | Nov 14 2025 12:10 utc | 333
Opinion by M K Bhadrakumar:
The Oreshnik and Burevestnik cruise missiles and Poseidon super-torpedoes give Russia an edge for the foreseeable future. Its openness to sharing Oreshnik systems with allies should interest India.
The new Russian arsenal that can deter wars
Posted by: BD | Nov 14 2025 12:15 utc | 334
Drongos thought I am wisco. | Nov 14 2025 12:10 utc | 333
In my life time, a number of doggies have tried to hump my leg. The trashbags dont even use a condom. That would create a stain on my jeans. Not good.
The yapping poodles, the leg humpers, I have always given a hearty kick in the guts.
The name changers now I simply term as Wico. Effeminate personalities that swap names like a bub getting its shit stained nappy changed.
Wot say you.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 12:20 utc | 335
For b,
Here b, you were asking what is going on in Japan.
Last Thursday, November 6, 2025, a presentation at the Symposium – 今求められる「責任ある積極財政」とは何か？ (What kind of ‘responsible and proactive fiscal policy’ is needed now?) – which was held in the National Diet Members’ Office Building (Parliament) in Tokyo.
It was a big event and a long list of Members of Parliament attended as well as top level bureaucrats in the policy ministries.
https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=62884
First China, now Japan. Only a matter of time before Russia agrees and gets on board and then BRICS.
Posted by: Clouds Of Alabama | Nov 14 2025 12:21 utc | 336
Clouds Of Alabama | Nov 14 2025 12:21 utc | 337
That fluffed out spacing, the swort of spacing that wears out the scroller on an undersize rat?
But that spacing. What is wrong with your mind that you do such shit?
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 12:56 utc | 337
“~ PHILOSOPHY TEST! ~
= Interesting questions (most of them anyway), so I’ll give my answers.
A1 – Which is more desperate: Man or Nature? Ponder the question.
= Desperation is the perception of immediate danger and taking immediate non-routine action to eliminate it. This is best accomplished by something intelligent, thus man would tend to rate highest; however, since man is inseparable from nature, being just another species among them all, the question is moot: to the exact extent that man is desperate, so too is nature. A2 – Discuss Kierkegaard’s opinion on this issue.
= Never heard of him/her, and you’ve given me no motivation to look up the name. I doubt his/her opinion would change mine. B – What is Freedom? Formulate an opinion in no more than three sentences.
= Ability to make choices at will without interference from anyone or anything. Absolute freedom is not necessarily a good thing. Might as well use the third sentence for something. C – Is Man a part of Nature? Use both the terms Will and God in your answer.
= Already answered this, but I didn’t see any need at the time to mention that liars and frauds invented every ludicrous belief in deities (gods, demons, valkyries, whatever) that have ever existed in the world. Not one of those liars and frauds deserves any praise. I don’t care whether you will believe that or not.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 10:42 utc | 321”
Posted by: Dalit | Nov 14 2025 12:59 utc | 338
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 8:08 utc | 311
Where do the gamma rays come from, Uranium decay?
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 13:03 utc | 339
Where do the gamma rays come from, Uranium decay?
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 13:03 utc | 340
That is my understanding.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 13:07 utc | 340
“But that spacing. What is wrong with your mind”
Maybe he remembered, as I didn’t, that if it looks right in the editor, it looks like crap in the post itself.
Posted by: Dalit | Nov 14 2025 13:09 utc | 341
“Why is a Sky News Arabia journalist hugging the RSF? | MEE Explains”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJSw345A1kI ( length: 4 minutes )
There is a civil war between the sudanese government and a group called “Rapid Service Force” (RSF). The RSF is funded by mining sudanese goldmines and that gold is then sold to the UAE (United Arab Emirates). In that way the UAE is responsible for fueling the sudanese civil war.
Posted by: WMG | Nov 14 2025 13:22 utc | 342
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 14 2025 6:44 utc | 304
The chinese economy is in much deeper “male bovine excrement” than A LOT OF dare to think. Depending on the source the chinese Debt-to-GDP ratio is between 290% and 450%.
Posted by: WMG | Nov 14 2025 13:26 utc | 343
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 13:03 utc | 340
“Gamma rays are produced by high-energy events, most commonly through the decay of radioactive atomic nuclei (gamma decay). They are also generated by particle interactions such as the deceleration of charged particles in magnetic fields, nuclear explosions, and violent cosmic events like supernovae and black hole activity.
Terrestrial and laboratory production
- Radioactive decay: Gamma rays are emitted when an unstable nucleus, often left in an excited state after a prior alpha or beta decay, releases excess energy to return to a lower, more stable state.
- Nuclear reactions: Events such as neutron capture and nuclear fission can also leave a nucleus in an excited state, causing it to release gamma rays.
- Particle acceleration: Gamma rays can be created when charged particles like electrons are accelerated or decelerated by electromagnetic fields. This can happen in high-energy physics experiments, or even in natural processes like lightning strikes.
- Pair annihilation: The process where a particle and its antiparticle annihilate each other, releasing their energy as two gamma-ray photons.
Cosmic production
- Supernovae: These massive stellar explosions create and release immense amounts of energy, including gamma rays.
- Neutron stars and black holes: The extreme conditions and powerful magnetic fields surrounding these objects accelerate charged particles, causing them to emit gamma-ray synchrotron radiation.
- Gamma-ray bursts: The most powerful explosions in the universe, these events are thought to be caused by the collapse of massive stars or the merger of neutron stars and release gamma rays.”
Posted by: canuk | Nov 14 2025 13:27 utc | 344
“The chinese economy is in much deeper “male bovine excrement” than A LOT OF dare to think. Depending on the source the chinese Debt-to-GDP ratio is between 290% and 450%.”
Posted by: WMG | Nov 14 2025 13:26 utc | 344
You are way, way off-its about 90% of GDP.
“China recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 88.30 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2024. Government Debt to GDP in China averaged 39.69 percent of GDP from 1995 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 88.30 percent of GDP in 2024 and a record low of 20.40 percent of GDP in 1997. source: IMF”
Posted by: canuk | Nov 14 2025 13:30 utc | 345
“Israel’s Iran Sabotage BACKFIRES, Tensions Escalate”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B2sg-Kdq2k ( length: 9 minutes)
Quote from below the video:
“Etan Mabourakh, the Action Organizing Manager at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) reveals an AI-powered Deepfake Israeli operation to manipulate Iranian politics.”
“Etan Mabourakh is the Action Organizing Manager at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), where oversees NIAC’s grassroots efforts to empower Iranian American In every state around the country for pro-peace, pro civil rights and human rights advocacy. He also co-captains the NIAC New York Chapter mobilizing volunteer leaders, engaging policymakers, and advancing campaigns for peace and justice in the Middle East and U.S.”
The title is – as always – too hyperbolic but the message remains disturbing enough none the less.
Posted by: WMG | Nov 14 2025 13:31 utc | 346
“The chinese economy is in much deeper “male bovine excrement” than A LOT OF dare to think. Depending on the source the chinese Debt-to-GDP ratio is between 290% and 450%.” Posted by: WMG | Nov 14 2025 13:26 utc | 344 You are way, way off-its about 90% of GDP. “China recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 88.30 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2024. Government Debt to GDP in China averaged 39.69 percent of GDP from 1995 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 88.30 percent of GDP in 2024 and a record low of 20.40 percent of GDP in 1997. source: IMF”
Posted by: canuk | Nov 14 2025 13:30 utc | 346
========================================================
Rubbish. Did this take into account debt of the individual provinces and private debt ?
Posted by: WMG | Nov 14 2025 13:34 utc | 347
China Threatens Japan Over PM’s Taiwan Comments
https://www.rt.com/news/627791=china-threatens-japan-taiwan/
“China has warned that potential military involvement by Japan in the Taiwan issue would be treated as aggression and met with a forceful response. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently suggested her country could intervene in the Taiwan Strait.
Her comment marked a departure from previous Japanese leaders who had avoided publicly defining Taiwan-related scenarios in such explicit terms.
Takaichi was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister last month. A hardline conservative, she has supported revising Japan’s pacifist constitution, expanding the country’s military role, strengthening security ties with the US and Taiwan, and adopting a more assertive stance towards China..”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 14 2025 13:42 utc | 348
Posted by: canuk | Nov 14 2025 13:30 utc | 346
“Rubbish. Did this take into account debt of the individual provinces and private debt ?”
Posted by: WMG | Nov 14 2025 13:34 utc | 348
Yes, the number comprises all Chinese government debt-private debt is not government debt.
Perhaps you have more concise numbers than IMF has-if so kindly please document this number.
Posted by: canuk | Nov 14 2025 13:47 utc | 349
China Threatens Japan Over PM’s Taiwan Comments (corrected)
https://www.rt.com/news/627791-china-threatens-japan-taiwan/
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 14 2025 13:47 utc | 350
I’m going to beat a bit of a dead horse.
I am revisiting a small US blog devoted to discussing political events. The posters are mostly USians, with some Europeans regularly posting as well.
The stuff they write is so far removed from reality that I’m not even sure how to present anything factual about the war in Ukraine. I have some time on my hands, so I’ll see what I can put together.
What I have already learned: MUCH RESPECT TO B AND OTHERS PRESENTING INFORMATION. It is a lot more work than I even imagined. Getting Ukrainian text translated to English is tedious, not TOO long, but then coming up with the final presentation is not always trivial. Especially since there are things assumed in the text that the audience might not understand.
I will give it a shot. If nothing else I am gaining respect for written content creators. It’s a lot harder than it looks.
Posted by: Woke American | Nov 14 2025 13:50 utc | 351
@ Dalit | Nov 14 2025 12:59 utc | 339
I’ll sign on to your answers to B and C but would answer the first two questions differently:
A: I reject crude attempts at anthropomorphizing.
A2: I can’t take seriously those “philosophers” whose writings demonstrate an urgent need for therapy. If forced to, however, I’d stick with Nietzsche, who occasionally had worthwhile things to say and had an estimable prose style. (He wrote some decent music too btw.)
Posted by: malenkov | Nov 14 2025 14:05 utc | 352
@ psychohistorian | Nov 14 2025 5:46 utc | 301
Thanks for sharing that; I will definitely order it from the local shop.
Posted by: robjira | Nov 14 2025 15:34 utc | 353
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 13:07 utc | 341
Interesting – a trace of Uranium, a fraction of which is radioactive.
That must be one hell of a sensitive detector and presumably very prone to interference from background radiation. Maybe it only really works underground in an existing mine.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 15:34 utc | 354
The answer is: talking to Americans polluted by our mainstream media is useless. The most interesting comments were all about how weak Russia is. I presented articles from the Kyiv Independent about the recent power outages in Kiev. They were not impressed.
The US has some hard times ahead of it. When you believe lies and act on them, results tend to not be very good.
Posted by: Woke American | Nov 14 2025 16:03 utc | 355
“Posted by: malenkov | Nov 14 2025 14:05 utc | 353” “A: I reject crude attempts at anthropomorphizing.”
I was thinking that a wildebeest defending itself from or trying to escape from a lion would exhibit behavior reasonably called desperation. On further thought, perhaps the more intelligent the species, the more often it would prepare in advance, and the less often it would be in desperate situations, opposite my first ranking.
“A2: I can’t take seriously those “philosophers” whose writings demonstrate an urgent need for therapy. If forced to, however, I’d stick with Nietzsche, who occasionally had worthwhile things to say and had an estimable prose style. (He wrote some decent music too btw.)”
I’ve read Nietzsche, though so long ago I don’t recall what. You have given me reason to look for more of his work.
Thanks for agreeing with my other answers.
Posted by: Dalit | Nov 14 2025 16:28 utc | 356
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 13 2025 19:44 utc | 221
———————-
Ignorance can be corrected by education., racism is incurable.
Brain washing can theoretically be countered, but what if the bigotry is from bottom up !
——————
Exhibit A[re post]
MI5 chief
China poses ‘daily threat’ to UK,
I didnt bother to watch the vid, went straight to the comments hoping to find some sanity, shouldnt have bothered, total madness.
Here’r some samples, you get the drift
————————-
*THIS IS IT. WE NOW KNOW WHO IS BEHIND ALL THIS SHITE WE HAVE BEEN LIVING THROUGH. FOO MAN CHOO. AND HIS SMOKING BAT. AND EXPLODING ELECTRIC GOODS[I didnt cap it]
*China is not interested in diplomacy. There is no need for them to have an embassy in ANY western country. Anyone sympathetic to the CCP is suspect until proven otherwise.
*We now know why Starmer gave away Chagos ! How was he allowed to do that ?
*China is highly skilled at placing its agents in positions of power and influence globally. We should have grave reservations about all our dealings with China
*There is no requirement for a new chinese embassy.
—————–
The above are text book case of bandits crying robbery.
You cant reason with those who are willfully obtuse.
Thru centuries of practice, Western brain washing has been honed to an exact science, with a not exactly clueless majority lapping it up with relish.
These days, Fighting western propaganda feels like an exercise in futility
China is up against the entire carnivores clan‘s web of deceit juggernaut, not to mention military encirclement.
At time I felt knackered, but when I see such next level bullshit like the above, I tell myself,
‘like hell IM going to let them get away with this nonsense’ !Hence…..
Posted by: denk | Nov 14 2025 16:36 utc | 357
Posted by: tobias cole | Nov 14 2025 2:35 utc | 295
———————-
TW = WW3 with nukes flying all round.
Think you can watch another ‘wonderful sight to behold’ from afar while jap /chinese going for each others throat ?
Posted by: denk | Nov 14 2025 16:46 utc | 358
Who Really Owns America? The Banks, the Billionaires and the Deep State
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/who_really_owns_america_the_banks_the_billionaires_and_the_deep_state
“America is literally being bought and sold right out from under us. Consider the facts…”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 14 2025 17:19 utc | 359
MAKC: Why Are All The Social Democrats Liberal Zionists?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCOES4uPEak
“Carlos, the host of Deculturation, will join us to talk about why he tracks liberal left streamers…and some of the things he’s learned by paying close attention to their content over the last few years, particularly amid the genocide in Gaza…”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 14 2025 18:08 utc | 360
Trump, Epstein & The Democrats: A Criminal Ruling Class
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/11/14/mzkc-n14.html
“The release of more than 20,000 emails from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein throws fresh insight on the depraved and criminal character of the American ruling class.
What the documents reveal is not simply the private perversions of a single individual but the character of the entire capitalist elite – its interlocking networks of finance, intelligence, media and politics – and the depth of its descent into moral and social rot.
The Democratic Party had ample opportunity throughout the Biden administration to delve into the Trump-Epstein connection, but did not do so because the scandal implicated prominent Democrats as well…”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 14 2025 18:28 utc | 361
Kevin Walmsley lays out the story of how the US MIC has deindustrialized itself and how the USG approves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-gUC0z-VFo
Capitalism is a bad ideology in that it is self-destructive.
All of the incentives are towards destroying posterity and readiness.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 14 2025 18:50 utc | 362
Posted by: denk | Nov 14 2025 16:36 utc | 358
Thanks Denk.
It is distressing to me just how easily people are led around by the nose, and will believe whatever hype the narrative matrix pushes on any given day.
I feel fairly certain that there is a sort of “mob psychology” at play, where people feel emotionally excited (and fearful) encountering any news that stirs up these kinds of elevated emotional states.
It very much ties in with persiflo’s “desperation” question above. Those in a state of desperation get a great big kick of adrenaline, which stirs up dopamine and opioid receptors (and other hormones like cortisol/melatonin balance) on the come-down stage of the cycle. There appears to be an “addictive” nature to the “boom-bust” (you could call it a “dialectic” in a philosophical sense) cycle of hormones and neurotransmitters involved…which is likely why it works so well on people, making them very easily herded.
I do try to encourage the fellow Australians that I interact with to read more widely, and to think for themselves, but it is such an onerous task. I find the “qui bono?” question is the best one to pose in most circumstances… along with “follow the money”.
They are both helpful thought excercises to encourage others to step outside the incessant fog of media narratives, and to see the actual terrain, not just the (falsified) map we are provided by the narrative managers.
I appreciate your posts here. They always help to expand my (unfortunately limited, but growing) understanding of the world. As do many of the posters here at the bar.
Thanks.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 14 2025 18:54 utc | 363
denk@358……..it’s the Brexshiters: first rule of thumb, they lie, their entire existence has been structured on lies…..the comments are structured to support the lie…….if the comments ran counter to the lie they’d never see light……the system supports itself…….no room for dissent.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 14 2025 19:32 utc | 364
I appreciate your posts here. They always help to expand my (unfortunately limited, but growing) understanding of the world. As do many of the posters here at the bar.Thanks.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 14 2025 18:54 utc | 364
One of philosophy’s all-time heroes, Socrates of Athens, is reported to have said I know that I know nothing! — That’s a bit coquettish, especially when directed at the know-it-alls who have been around since forever, but is still a maxim most philosophers carry around embedded deeply in their hearts; and for good reason. Yes, we may know “something” especially when asked about it, but it usually amounts to not much more than an attempt to try and more precisely formulate the question which is being asked. The world, as it is, is a riddle.The history of (western) philosophy basically documents 2,500 years of failure to understand what the heck is going on. Still it seems worth trying; if only because we can. But some of the questions which arise along with that are not for everyone, and neither are they important to all for their respective walks of life. I firmly believe that this sort of respect is the state of things we should aspire to embrace; and seeing how utterly forgetful, cynical and corrupt the countries of the west are in regard to taking good, responsible, ethical care of their folks and kin is one of my main reasons to act upon my moral outrage by posting to the Moon of Alabama.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 19:42 utc | 365
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 14 2025 18:54 utc | 364
Indi.ca has an apposite post:
Divide People, Multiply Capital
Keep the people infantilised with primary colours and angry at the other team.
Channel their anger to your agenda.
So simple, happens to work.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 20:13 utc | 366
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 8:08 utc | 311Where do the gamma rays come from, Uranium decay?
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 13:03 utc | 340
***********************
Warning: physics and nut danger alert.
Three type of emission in radioactive decay;
- alpha particles (helium nuclei, from the nucleus) reduces the atomic weight by 4, and the atomic number by two – to give the daughter product.
- Beta decay (from neutrons in the nucleus) leaves the atomic weight (essentially) unchanged and increases the atomic number of the daughter product by one.
- Gamma rays (essentially) emanate from the nucleus and are a result of re-arrangement of the nuclear structure to a lower energy level – the quanta of energy difference in the energy level is the energy of the gamma ray emitted. gamma rays are associated with alpha and beta decay in that any emission from the nucleus will promote a re-arrangement to arrive at a lower energy level of the nuclear arrangement. Sometimes simultaneous, more often spontaneous.
Bothe alpha and beta decay produce a daughter product of a new element. Gamma ray emission (from the nucleus) leaves the daughter element unchanged. Gamma ray energies vary over a wide range from a few KeV to several Mev – making detection rather specialised. Gamma rays can also be produced from the annihilation of matter and anti-matter – refer my comment a few months ago on PET scan medical diagnostics.
Full chart of daughter products of U-238 decay, and details of associated gamma emission here :
https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1050/uranium.htm
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 20:22 utc | 367
[jukebox] Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street (1978)
More bakery. More sax. More cry and try. “I tried to drown my sorrows, but the little fuckers learned how to swim.”
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 20:24 utc | 368
Posted by: canuk | Nov 14 2025 13:27 utc | 345
**********
Thanks Canuk, you beat me by a country mile! – I should have read through to the end before posting. Your wikipedia, web search , and AI skills certainly eclipse my meagre manual efforts!
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 20:27 utc | 369
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 20:22 utc | 368
Thanks for that
Looks like 214Bi is the key:
Most gamma-ray spectrometers used for geologic applications measure the intensity of the 1.76-MeV gamma-rays.
I guess the detectors must be tunable in some way, which would help with selectivity and background noise.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 20:38 utc | 370
One of philosophy’s all-time heroes, Socrates of Athens, is reported to have said I know that I know nothing! — That’s a bit coquettish, especially when directed at the know-it-alls who have been around since forever,
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 19:42 utc | 366
**************
Philosophy and Science have deep interconnections – they both search for understanding and truth (‘Truth’ maybe not so much)…
When I first embarked on my ‘university era’ I wanted to know everything. Many years later I know that I know less (relatively speaking) than when I started because I’ve become aware of a huge world of knowledge I can’t even begin to tap. And on top of that huge world is a constellation of questions that have not yet been answered – and beyond that, a universe of questions that have not yet been asked.
Thanks, persiflo, for that insight into Aristotle – I feel like he could have been my friend. When People say to me ‘Ahhh, you think you know everything’ I usually respond with something along the lines of ‘No, but I do know some of what I don’t know’. That usually serves to confirm their initial diagnosis of madness….
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 20:45 utc | 371
That must be one hell of a sensitive detector and presumably very prone to interference from background radiation. Maybe it only really works underground in an existing mine.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 15:34 utc | 355
The reading I did on them, they are used along with other geophys tools in mineral exploration. The bore hole loggers are generally a three in one detector. It seems that for opal, only the gamma ray detector is needed. Two of his videos show borehole logging but I think only that one shows the graph on the computer screen. There was a spike at the surface, but where he was prospecting, there were traces of bleached opal at the surface.
As far as know, the gamma ray detectors are only used in opal to log drill holes in the opal game and rarely used at that. Most of the known opal fields and patches were found due to erosion exposing gem opal. Along the lightning ridge anticline, more small fields were found by drilling and I think the same along the Coober Pedy anticline.
Boulder opal of the Winton formation tends to occur in separate patches rather than a solid field. Anything from the size of a small room to several acres.
A bloke with a drill invited me to come and have a look at their operation at Koroit one day. There were three of them, that bloke and his wife worked the mine and did some cutting, the other bloke ran the retail shop in Sydney.
Their main mine, and open cut in a place the old pick and hovel miners had tunneled through was along a fault.
Underground mining missed a huge amount at times. He took me up to see another patch. He showed me what he had found on the surface, just he faintest trace of potch in the surface gravels. At sixty feet he struck a level – the drill chips are washed and checked for opal. He mapped the small pocket with the prospecting drill the got in a shaft sinking drill to put a shaft down to the level. Puts down a hole a meter or so in diameter. From what he said, he and another bloke dug out the mapped area in several weeks.
With the boulder opal fields though, still a huge amount of leg work or poking around on a bike looking for surface trace to narrow the areas to drill. There are likely patches well hidden with no surface trace. Doing a drone survey with gamma ray detector might help narrow down the areas to look for surface trace of even to drill straight of the aerial gamma ray survey if there is no surface trace of opal.
Every time a new model metal detector comes out, there is a new gold rush in the gold fields here in oz and more alluvial gold is found. I was only doing that for a few months in the WA goldfields out on the edge of the desert. Spent an afternoon talking to a bloke who had been one of the first few to use a detector there. He would go out till he had a milo tin full then head back to Kalgoorlie to sell. A place called Dutchess, about 100k north of Leonora, he was the the first there. He walked into a gully nd started finding gold. He didn’t even need the detector. Good size nuggets just laying on the surface and he filled a milo tin in an afternoon. Milo tins were/are several litres in volume.
When I started reading up on the various gamma ray detectors this company was putting out, I thought they had the potential to be what the early metal detectors were to gold fossicking.
Alot of stuff with the gamma ray detecting for opal would be trial and error to see how and where they can be used in opal mining. To date only the bore hole logging is used and that by a very rare few.
It was early this year I was studying the opal stuff and it only just the other day that a few things clicked and I thought about the handheld scanner for detecting in old underground opal workings.
That spike on the graph on the computer screen could easily be converted to audio. Like with the gold detector, a dial to tune out most background noise so only the spikes come through.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 20:53 utc | 372
China plans to ban Samsung phones over embedded with ‘Unremovable’ Israeli spyware. China banning Samsung, Motorola, Apple and Google Pixel over security concerns.
https://x.com/rkmtimes/status/1989376268882882591
Posted by: unimperator | Nov 14 2025 20:56 utc | 373
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 19:42 utc | 366
Thanks for the reply. I had encountered that Socrates quote at university. I had started out with the aim of doing “hard science” (BSc degree) but ended up by natural drift to doing History & Philosophy of Science as one of my two majors, psychology the other. Admittedly, I spent much of my time at university going to see bands, getting high, and falling in and out of love, but it was all a valuable part of my trajectory.
The big questions are the ones that have always attracted my curiosity, but after four decades of pondering, I’m no closer to any comprehensive understanding than I was as a 16 year old skate-punk. Maybe the answer is just “42” after all.
Epistemology has always fascinated me, and trying to understand what constitutes knowledge, and how we determine what is truth or falsehood. It keeps that youthful inquisitiveness alive, knowing that I “know” so little and that most of my subjectively accepted knowledge could ultimately turn out to be erroneous. I guess that’s just a long-winded way of saying that the journey is in many ways more important than the ultimate destination. The quest for the sake of the quest.
In the modern, public context, it is every bit as much of a challenge as the above, especially knowing that falsehood is the main game in public narrative control. I know way too many people who haven’t even approached that first step (of understanding that the MSM is mostly lies), so they tend to react rather emotionally to having their worldview questioned. I’ve recently been told to “stop thinking so much” by one acquaintance. The “ignorance is bliss” approach. I wasn’t sure whether I found that insulting, or maybe even profound and instructive (in a meditative abstraction sense).
Anyways, I’m just rambling now…my apologies.
Thanks for the input.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 14 2025 21:08 utc | 374
Posted by: ChatNPC | Nov 14 2025 20:13 utc | 367
Thanks. I shall go away and read it. Indi.ca often has an interesting perspective on things.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 14 2025 21:09 utc | 375
@ persiflo | Nov 14 2025 10:42 utc | 321 tongue-in-cheek
A: I challenge the alleged distinction between ‘man’ and ‘nature’. Hence, no answer.
B: We must assume it is so; so have to put up with it both backwards and forwards.
C: It is an abstract illusion. It is an ideology. It is propaganda.
D: Yes – God willing.
Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 14 2025 21:13 utc | 376
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 20:45 utc | 372
I scrolled down after commenting, and then saw that your had expressed somewhat similar sentiments, albeit in a far less rambling fashion than I.
Cheers.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 14 2025 21:14 utc | 377
General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 20:22 utc | 368
The various elements/rays or whatever put out by uranium….. I did read up on the work the CSIRO scientist was doing in the early 2000s and the gamma ray detectors had to be modified or fine tuned in some way to reliably detect opal. I didn’t and still don’t know enough about that side of things but so long as a gadget works is the main thing I guess.
Like with gold, there has been new opal rushes each time new technology is tried. The 90s and early 2000s and opal was booming. First heavy machinery brought in to dig up the old pick and shovel claims then prospecting drills appeared at Lightning Ridge and more was found.
Mintabie was dead for many years until heavy equipment was brought and that field alone supplied over 90% of the worlds opal. Everywhere now though, the opal mining is dead. A few miners still operating on most fields but nothing like it was 15 to 20 years ago.
The Mintabie field on google maps
https://www.google.ru/maps/@-27.3082318,133.2795422,6720m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTExMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 21:16 utc | 378
On Opal – the detector gear can merely help to confirm a trace at more or less close range. The skill to discover something like that in a landscape would be more likely to be a case of synthetische Apperzeption, meaning it is more of a thing of a schooled/learned intuition/understanding sort of thing … I guess one would learn that by contextual observation of geological features, preferably as explained by a real expert (I’m thinking of a well-chosen/selected geology prof) either vor Ort or in class. How best to access this I don’t know, but the most helpful descriptions would possibly be drawings.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 21:19 utc | 379
Posted by: unimperator | Nov 14 2025 20:56 utc | 374
This may be a very important global development. Worth watching how this plays out, if confirmed to be the case.
I have little doubt that all major western phones have embedded spyware or backdoors built in.
I really need to get back to learning more about flashing new ROMs to a phone, and get totally away from the Google/Microsoft/Palantir axis of enshittification. Either that, or just ditch the phone altogether.
It is an issue that seems to be greatly pressing upon me lately. The “prison of convenience” that modern technology has become.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 14 2025 21:23 utc | 380
the detector gear can merely help to confirm a trace at more or less close range.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 21:19 utc | 380
That was my thought also but there was something in what I read – the CSIRO scientist believed that by using three widely spaced boreholes for triangulation opal deposits could be found. How much is in that I do not know.
A prospecting drill can easily miss opal but gamma ray logging makes me think an accurate 3d map of the deposit can be created before any form of mining commences.
Even in a field where claims are back to to back, the opal tends to occur in small patches. A small patch of one or two square meters, if it is good quality colour, the dollars can quickly go into the millions even in the rough.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 21:44 utc | 381
I was told to stop thinking too much all the time by almost everyone when I was younger, and I hated it – so much so that I went into exile for another city where hopefully others with this disposition could be found and joined for a beer or two. Well, I found some. I also got down hard on my strongly felt intuition that truth is not an empty meaningless term, and indeed isn’t. Just don’t expect to find it lying around on the sidewalk to be picked up.
In essence, truth (which is etymologically related to trust, Dt. Treue, and even tree – being sturdy and high) is not a ‘thing’ but actualizes itself in an experience. It is therefore grounded in Dasein, or being-here-ness, and comes about when notional expectation meets reality. How exactly to define congruence is up to the task; hence the importance of meta-science, reflecting upon the methodology tailored for a method which is to be applied in a ‘science of a thing’. Answers are in the question, as they say.
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 21:45 utc | 382
uh oh. My above comment contains apparent traces of irradiation, making it less clear than desired — I should stop right here, and go for a walk and a bit of snozzeling. See you later, all!
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 21:52 utc | 383
unimperator@374……..China is banning cell phones with spywar ? Sounds like bs, I’d put money on them being afraid of the phones blowing up in their faces……
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 14 2025 21:53 utc | 384
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 14 2025 21:53 utc | 385
Obviously hidden implication is exploding spyware.
Netanyahu bragged about anyone having a smart phone ‘holding a piece of Israel’. He probably means Motorola, Samsung, Apple and Google phones. Just ban that sh#t.
Posted by: unimperator | Nov 14 2025 21:55 utc | 385
persiflo | Nov 14 2025 21:45 utc | 383
Truth? A somewhat meaningless word when reaching into the unknown. Honesty – that is something more solid.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 21:55 utc | 386
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 12 2025 18:33 utc | 13
Yes, good post, I do sympathise, agree… (Actually I am obsessed with leaf blowers, an example I bring up often, funny that, other topic.)
Throwing off the class shackles would be great, but ya know, that’s now called Communism, Terrorism!, left Extremism/ aka support for Terrorist Orgs, see ex. GB and Palestine, Evil socialism, destroying the banking hegemony unthinkable, finance would collapse, etc.
Everyone can see that street demos, protests, writing to ‘leaders’, setting up new Pol. Parties, and so on won’t accomplish anything at all except ‘cosmetics’ (and scams…), never radical change.
Revolution is too frightening.. So there it rests.
Open thread, so I’m branching out… Humanity is facing dire challenges, problems, and many parties are clumsily gyrating…
excerpt:
At the species level, it now seems clear that we humans need to stop formulating guidance based on conventional thinking; it does not work. Humans need to start relying on guidance provided by role models (Fowler 2003, 2009; Fowler and Hobbs 2002, 2003, 2011; Fowler, Belgrano, and Casini 2013). This change would mean that intergovernmental panels, consulting firms, teams of experts, environmental organizations, political parties, government administrations, and all individuals involved would acknowledge their biases and limitations and, rather than offer advice, do their best at being experts in seeking normative information for guidance (Fowler 2021). The advice of experts would be replaced by the wisdom of role models. Obviously, this would be a huge change and run against the human tendency to maintain the status quo, to continue doing more of the same. Natural selection and genetic forces undoubtedly contribute to the ways humans think—and are also behind the abnormality of today’s world. Using normative information to be normal would deal with the risks such forces pose.
https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/10885/#F1
Not saying I agree with all that, but a wider view point is welcome.
Posted by: Noirette | Nov 14 2025 22:04 utc | 387
Noirette | Nov 14 2025 22:04 utc | 388
For those of us living in the ‘west’, we live in a collapsing society, collapsing civilization. Any that have still got a few decades ahead of them – buckle up. It will be wild ride.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 22:14 utc | 388
Philosophy? Is that something that can be taught? Too much of what I see in the western system and in western education is about locking up the mind.
I guess since the flying and the problem with the rotor hub bars breaking, then working for my mate – so many I have run into with professional or trade qualifications have minds like little children who only know what they were taught by rote. To try and pick the brains of that type was a time wasting exercise as there was no brain to pick.
Occasionally I would run into someone who had made it through the education system with their mind intact. Those people I could talk to for hours.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 22:30 utc | 389
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 22:14 utc | 389
Yes. It is going to become… let’s be soft, difficult.
Posted by: Noirette | Nov 14 2025 22:38 utc | 390
sean the leprechaun | Nov 14 2025 21:53 utc | 385
The sneaky little anglo leprechauns get into everything. China was putting out a lot of phones with linux OS but now they have their own OS. I think Russia also now has their own OS.
I’m not sure how stuff works these days, but chips are coded with a chip coder to create the operating system. That is the point at which the Americans insert their gremlins.
The Chinese and Russian boffins who are masters of that dark art will use chip decoders/coders to read them.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 22:41 utc | 391
Prompted by @ b’s latest topic, a question for the philosophical barflies; what is meant by the concept of government ? Does each human have their own individual concept, unique to themselves, each slightly different to each other’s interpretation, therefore it becomes impossible for complete agreement about the meaning, never mind the purpose, of government?
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Perhaps more procedural, once a government shuts down, should it not re-open until new elections are held?
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 14 2025 22:42 utc | 392
Looks like Colombian President is going to be accused of narco trafficking next.
Posted by: Suresh | Nov 14 2025 22:50 utc | 393
Unimperator, China banning Samsung makes Xi’s gift of the latest Xiomi phone and wise crack about “backdoors” to South Korean leader the ultimate troll.
Posted by: Suresh | Nov 14 2025 22:57 utc | 394
Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 14 2025 22:42 utc | 393
This urbanised western world lives far from any form of reality. The corruption that is termed leadership or government, their feet firmly planted in quicksand. There is plenty around the world to learn from.
The west has to first bottom out before it will again see the basics. Seeing the basics, a firm foundation to reach into the future.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 23:00 utc | 395
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 21:45 utc | 383
Completely agree.
Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 14 2025 23:00 utc | 396
Patroklos | Nov 14 2025 23:00 utc | 397
Truth vs honesty. My sister is quite honest. She has told me she is not concerned about facts, she makes decisions based on her emotions. Her emotions are guided by what she reads in the media and she has told me she only trusts mainstream media. She is quite open and honest but her mind sterilized and homonogized by the education system she went through.
Truth is a word that has come to be used like the words democracy, human rights ect ect are now used. The 9/11 truth.org – a red herring to further fuck the peasants.
In any form of science a theory or concept must be infinity repeatable to become a fact. So there is honesty and there is fact. Two separate things. Truth is a somewhat meaningless word that requires discarding.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 23:20 utc | 397
On second thoughts, truth can only be used to help define honesty. It cannot define facts.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 23:30 utc | 398
“…the old pick and hovel miners…”
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 20:53 utc | 373
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There you go, Jane – specially for you, another piece of Peter’s poetry, hot off the press.
Who’da thunk you’d find pearls in an opal field…
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 23:46 utc | 399
The Grayzone Live: ‘All The Perfumes of Arabia’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id9uJuB4vJc
“Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss the escalation of the US show of force against Venezuela, Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s revealing visit to Washington, the prison abuse scandal rocking Israel, and the MAGA crack-up over Epstein and Trump’s slavish support for Israel.”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 14 2025 23:48 utc | 400