“…the old pick and hovel miners…” Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 14 2025 20:53 utc | 373 **************** 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 | 400
 
Bloody hell general. Your mind is sharp as a Japanese blade:)
 
Regardless of my mighty typos, I feel quite at home living in a hovel out in the bush far from civilization. Have been there and done that so to speak. Well not so much so to speak.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 0:01 utc | 404

but there is a difference between being taught what to think, and being taught how to think, and being able to think… And for a few lucky people they seem to be born with natural ability,
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 14 2025 23:56 utc | 403
 
My son. The spark of thought was there. I tried to encourage that spark. My father came over. He had never been able to extinguish that spark in me. I wanted to be able to get along with my father. He destroyed that weak spark of of thought in my son. In the end, when it became clear he had come over to take over my business I simply told him to fuck off. Dumped him at the train station and drove off. But he had destroyed that spark of original thought I had been nurturing in my son.
 
The benefit of hindsight at times….  

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 0:45 utc | 406

Thanks for yourPosted by: karlof1 | Nov 14 2025 4:47 utc | 300, karlof1.
 
The Helmer conversation was lengthy, so thanks for persevering.  I guess it was all fairly new to me, karlof1, and so held my interest.  I had dimly heard of ‘the Dismissal’ back in the day, but politics was a foreign land when I was growing up,  the NZ Herald just a stodgy paper with few photos and a lot of very small print.  I didn’t start wondering a bit about politics until I was a freshman in the US and President Eisenhower showed up at the end of year picnic.  That was when there were secret service persons prowling the rooftops, so it did catch my attention.  But still, my own ‘awakening’ was years away- education then family came first.  Assassination plans at the end of the Helmer discussion did give me a sinking feeling.  We go along on a fairly level keel until such events shatter the calm.  That”s where I’d locate evil, not so much in an asteroid.
 
I did think Helmer’s connection to the second ‘dismissal’ event worth noting,  sort of similar to Mercouris’ Greek aunt, giving a bit of insight into each one’s motivations.  It’s a small world.  
 
 

Posted by: juliania | Nov 15 2025 1:15 utc | 408

 Jon_in_AU | Nov 15 2025 1:01 utc | 408
 
All the threads seem to go dead in Australian daylight hours. General’s missus has him under the whip painting the house. Like an outback town on a Sunday morning.
 
Learning how to think cannot be taught. For most, in the education system, it is about nurturing a spark that already exists.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 1:40 utc | 410

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 14 2025 8:32 utc | 312
 
All very well said, persiflo!  My schooling made it easy for me to differentiate between the two philosophers.  I had my last two years studying Latin at a California convent school — that is, there was a convent with a highschool on its grounds.  I had never been exposed to Catholicism; my family was loosely Protestant and my NZ highschool Anglican though not strictly so.  We sang Anglican hymns at assembly.   Both high schools were girls only.
 
So, the Latin studies went along with that western Christian orientation.  In California there were religious classes and also a monthly chapel mass — no one told me what would be expected of me, but I had enough sense to know I wouldn’t be appearing at the Communion rail.  The services were still old style, latin oriented.  I was the only non-Catholic girl in the school;  it was rather traumatic for me at times but the nuns were kind.  I never did feel an urge to become Catholic;  it was , seemed, too strange, the mass too distant.
 
In college came two years of classic Greek, a liberal arts college so I wasn’t exposed to Orthodoxy, just the philosophy of the Greeks, Plato and then Aristotle.  The latter reminded me of high school  where the theology was of a logical bent.   So then later on,  Plato and Orthodoxy via Dostoievski went together for me.  And I loved the little church that was just beginning  as was my own little family.   All very organic!
 
I’ll agree, we don’t need to stay back in the middle ages.  I’ll just observe that the Roman church was always aware of its importance – ‘first among equals’.  And yes, out in the desert, nous – the first of the Philokalian fathers, Saint Isaiah the Solitary, is already extremely aware of the importance of taking care of the intellect:
 

….  Be attentive to yourself so that nothing destructive can separate you from the love of God.  Guard your heart and do not grow listless and say: ‘How shall I guard it , since I am a sinner?’  For when a man abandons his sins and returns to God,  his repentance regenerates him and renews him entirely.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 15 2025 2:26 utc | 412

Posted by: Dalit | Nov 14 2025 16:28 utc | 357
 
It’s clear you later- than- the- rest- of- us -nighters have all the fun.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 15 2025 3:31 utc | 414

“Learning how to think cannot be taught. For most, in the education system, it is about nurturing a spark that already exists.”
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 1:40 utc | 411
 
Thanks Peter.
The lecturer I mentioned above was big on getting us to think, break long text into chunks (paraphrasing), and not just learning by rote. 
 
Had a high school physics teacher who was similar. He repeatedly told us (to our youthful dismay) that he wasn’t going to spoon-feed us, and to think things through, and ask if things needed more clarity.
 
Curiously, my brain is really good at rote learning, especially when motivated by night-before-exam panic, but I truly appreciate having been encouraged by good educators to think, rather than just regurgitate dot points.
 
I think we all have that spark to a degree, and it should be nurtured and encouraged. This must be an even greater challenge for educators today, as we have devolved further towards short attention spans and instant gratification in the smart phone era (as if tv wasn’t bad enough).

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Nov 15 2025 4:32 utc | 416

Talking about thinking reminded me of a ‘simple’ puzzle. If you haven’t seen this, then have a serious attempt at thinking it through unaided. 
 
I spent many hours on this and decided that there was insufficient information to solve the puzzle. I showed it to my son (the quantum memory dude) and he read it, thought for about twenty seconds, and told me the solution.
 
James is looking at Annette, but Annette is looking at Greg. James is married, but Greg is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?
 

• A: Yes
• B: No
• C: Cannot be determined

 
The point of particular interest about this puzzle is what it shows about the way that we think.
 
Have fun, and if you solve the problem, give the slower folk like me a bit of time to agonize!
 

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 15 2025 5:58 utc | 418

Most here at MOA are familiar with Substack – some even write on it! Here is an interview recorded this morning with a co-founder.
 
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2019012819/hamish-mckenzie-the-impact-of-independent-journalism
 

Otago-born Hamish McKenzie co-founded subscription publishing start-up Substack, and is its Chief Writing Officer.  
The online platform allows writers, journalists and content creators to publish directly to a subscription-based audience.

Hamish joins Guyon from Silicon Valley to discuss the state of independent journalism and what platforms like Substack mean for the future of traditional journalism.

Posted by: tucenz | Nov 15 2025 9:02 utc | 420

Here at MOA, I wish there was still a preview function and the search function worked – oh well, that quibble notwithstanding,  I am hugely grateful that MOA exists.

Posted by: tucenz | Nov 15 2025 9:12 utc | 422

I spent many hours on this and decided that there was insufficient information to solve the puzzle. I showed it to my son (the quantum memory dude) and he read it, thought for about twenty seconds, and told me the solution. James is looking at Annette, but Annette is looking at Greg. James is married, but Greg is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person? 

• A: Yes
• B: No
• C: Cannot be determined

 The point of particular interest about this puzzle is what it shows about the way that we think. Have fun, and if you solve the problem, give the slower folk like me a bit of time to agonize! 
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 15 2025 5:58 utc | 419
 
 
Puzzle? A question has not been asked so it cannot be answered. I guess many tall stories could be build around it, but the fact remains that a question has not been asked. Tall stories and decision making methods are at times odd things.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 11:04 utc | 424

Honestly, Peter, truth is not a meaningless word. Let me try to explain. 
 
Let’s assume a fact, such as 2+2+=4. This is a fact, right? It is also a statement about the numbers 2 and 4 and a relation between them. In this case, the statements are themselves the facts. But already here you can principally express statements which are factually wrong, such as 2+2=5. This gives rise to the language that the former statement is true, and the latter one is untrue.
 
This can be extended to facts and other observations which are not themselves statements. For instance, we could say that opal is beautiful, or that Shakespeare is a good writer, or that gold has such and such density, or that Gerald R. Ford was a POTUS and is now also the name of an American warship, etc. etc. — These are statements, and may or may not be factually true. Remember that truth is linguistically related to trust, so you might imagine that these statements are “trustsome” (if that makes some sense) – to be trusted – or Treu, as a lovely German word is – it is essentially the same word indeed, with English having many Germanic roots due to the Anglo-Saxons being originally Saxons as you would surely know.
 
So truth is a feature that applies to some statements, and (more generally) to some of them at some time. Like it is now daytime in Hamburg, etc. The problem of assigning a truth value [true or untrue or undecided] to a given statement is not always straightforward, especially if it is hard to establish the corresponding facts of obseravtion. What does it mean that Shakespeare is a good writer, or that Opal is beautiful?
 
Science is the process of arriving at truth-value statements about various affairs. Since we like those to be somewhat ‘objective’ (meaning their truth value is apparent to any number of observers) the conduct of science – its methodology – is formalized into a method; and since not all methods are suitable for all fields of study (physics cannot establish if Shakespeare is a good writer for instance) there are different sciences for different fields or ‘objectives’. In these cases, truth value is established accordingly, and not all statements from one field can be meaningfully applied to another field. It doesn’t make much sense to state that Shakespeare’s angular momentum is conserved for example.
 
So truth is not simply apparent as a thing in itself. It is by its own nature found in experience, and it arises where an assumption matches reality, broadly speaking. 
 
 I assume I will be hungry later. I am happy to read here above that Patroklos agrees with me. 2+2=4 still holding true. 

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 13:59 utc | 426

persiflo | Nov 15 2025 13:59 utc | 429
 
I have to disagree with you about this word truth.. There is honesty and there is facts.  Sometimes they can be separate things. I operate on facts. My emotions drive me to find facts. My sister makes decisions based on her emotions and considers facts irrelevant. Yet she is honest in every way.Truth is a meaningless term, honesty is something to be respected. The likes of Wisco and his name changing bum buddies, I don’t have much respect for them because they are not honest.
 
Honesty and facts are the two big things. I guess this irrelevant word called truth is only good for distinguishing between an honest person and a lying piece of shit.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 14:57 utc | 428

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 14 2025 23:57 utc | 404
yes that is part of the ‘radical change is needed’ message.

Posted by: Noirette | Nov 15 2025 15:04 utc | 430

Truth under the Axiom of Choice leads to the following provable conclusion:

Given a solid ball in three-dimensional space, there exists a decomposition of the ball into a finite number of disjoint subsets that can be put back together in a different way to yield two identical copies of the original ball.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banach%E2%80%93Tarski_paradox

Like the axioms of Euclidean Geometry he Axiom of Choice is a foundational element of Mathematics.  Accepting its truth has paradoxical consequences.
 
 

Posted by: too scents | Nov 15 2025 15:25 utc | 432

Past midnight here eastern oz time. Both sides of the north Atlantic should be kicking in. Hairy fairies gone into hiding? Come on, open a few cans of food for thought.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 15:34 utc | 434

@  tucenz | Nov 15 2025 9:12 utc | 423
 
i agree with you in all of that.. 

Posted by: james | Nov 15 2025 16:09 utc | 436

Sorry about the spacing of my post.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 15 2025 16:37 utc | 438

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
—————–
 
Fact vs fiction
 
Fiction
‘China pose a daily threat to the ‘civilised’ west’
 
Fact.’FUKUS are the no 1 threat to world peace.,!’

Posted by: denk | Nov 15 2025 17:54 utc | 440

Fact vs fiction
 
Fiction
Top stories
‘Alibaba allegedly helps Chinese military target US, per White House’
Reuters
‘White House says Alibaba is helping Chinese military target US, FT reports’
9 hours ago
Fact
‘Google, facebook, Amazon, Oracle….have lucrative contract with Pentagon.’

Posted by: denk | Nov 15 2025 17:59 utc | 442

Another day, another Chinese grilled by the ‘international community’ , whites[ usual suspects], Indians [anglo call them ‘our distant aryan bro’], blacks [uncle tom]….
 
Its almost an hour long, not my cup of tea.
BUt then I’s piqued by the intro,…
‘So you are saying only Chinese are human’ ?
 
 I grit my teeth and watched the whole crap so you dont have to…
 
Those interested can just start at37.54, when that moron posed what must be one of the stupiest question ever.
Dont be too sure , they’d outdo themselves by the end of day
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOPy1k4OHOs
[60m]

Posted by: denk | Nov 15 2025 18:21 utc | 444

Good morning, juliania. Good evening, b. Hello, MoA.
 
Before I will hand out the awards for the other takers of the philosophy test, a word on the Banach-Tarsky paradox: hu?!? — 

 
Given a solid ball in three-dimensional space, there exists a decomposition of the ball into a finite number of disjoint subsets that can be put back together in a different way to yield two identical copies of the original ball. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banach%E2%80%93Tarski_paradox

 
 
The Axiom of Choice has something to do with formalizing the role of synthetische Apperzeption in formal set theory, that much seems clear to me. I can’t remember the prove of the Banach-Tarsky paradox now, but I think I saw it twice, in an Analysis course and in a book on set theory. If it is actually a hoax, the math community is acting very disciplined on it. Talk about wrapping your head around something … 
 
Perhaps it helps if we study Danish philosophy a bit more. The Laid Back dudes are suggesting an idea for experimental demonstration of it – here it is again, in a more useful version than the one recently. Their proposal resembles an earlier succesful practical prove by Jesus when he pulled off the miracle of bread. Perhaps it did already work, and the Baker’s Union of Denmark is now withholding the results to create a market monopoly. 
 

If I had to venture a guess on what is going on there, I would start by looking at measure theory. If you make disjunct subsets (“slices”) from the original loaf, how does the boundary region look like? Any point x can’t go on two slices, so one slice will have a neat edge with a proper maximum, while the other one won’t; it will be frayed instead and merely have a supremum up in the point x. This might mess up the measure which computes the volume. As the rim is continuous, this possible (but frankly unlikely) artefact would also explain why a finite number of slices is enough to get the trick done. 
 
Oh well. There is mystery even in maths. Barkeep, can I get another grog?
 

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 19:14 utc | 446

Don Firineach fails the philosophy test, for which I am sorry. He’ll receive the Persiflo’s Medal of Philosophizzlement anyway, as promised.
 
To recap, here the original test queries again, followed by Don’s effort:
 
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.
 
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.
 
 
For a start, Don’s answers are not ordered correctly, he numbers them A to D. This leads to confusion. Yes, philosophy leads to confusion anyway, but one of the unspoken rules of the subject is that the audience should not be provided with any means to refuse the philosophizzlement on the grounds of obviously confused statements. Therefore alone this test must be considered a fail.
 
In A, Don challenges the query. Well, fine, but zero points for this effort from me. Where is the pondering? It is not even performately effective – it’s as if you meet Muhammad Ali in the ring to fight it out, and then stand there, arms crossed, telling him I challenge you! It might save you from some proper bruises, while he’s leaning comfortably against the ropes laughing his ass off, but it will not win you the match.
 
In his B, Don refers another one of Kierkegaard’s more famous arguments. I’m now not sure if it predates his failed wedding to Ms. Olsen, but in any case, Kierkegaard said Marry, and you will rue it. Don’t marry, and you will rue this too. Marry or don’t marry, you will rue both. Well if this is the case, Don still could have properly replied to A, since he will rue it anyway. So rue it he will, as I am now using his A to dismiss his B altogether. It shows familiarity with the literature, but also insufficient understanding.
 
In C, Don engages in another outright dismissal. Using his own premise I will afford zero points for his effort and claim it’s just illusion anyway, so who cares?
 
In D, Don affirms that man is a part of nature, only to then retract the statement with the qualifier “god willing”. Now what, Don? Any points from God on this answer be due, but none from me. 
 
Better luck next time, chap. Let’s have another whiskey from the bar anway, shall we?

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 20:24 utc | 448

Better luck next time, chap. Let’s have another whiskey from the bar anway, shall we?
Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 20:24 utc | 450
 
Oh Dear! I’ve failed again, Hopefully, next time I’ll fail better. I fail a lot. I learn a lot. 
 
Yes, let’s have another drink  … and ponder. Life can only be figured out backwards – but it has to be lived forwards. Onwards persiflo a chara.

Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 15 2025 20:42 utc | 450

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 20:24 utc | 450
 
the audience should not be provided with any means to refuse the philosophizzlement on the grounds of obviously confused statements.
 
******************
 
persiflo – you’re a real wizard! Dazzling us with the ease at which you subtly throw down examples to satisfy this new craze of poetic typos.  Personally, I think ‘refuse’ (as in reject or deny) is the better choice; ‘refuse’ (as in garbage or detritus is obviously a non-starter) while a pedant may cling to support of the more grammatically correct, but less meaningful ‘refute’.
 
…. or something. I feel like I’ve confused myself somewhere…

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 15 2025 21:00 utc | 452

Oh Dear! I’ve failed again, Hopefully, next time I’ll fail better. I fail a lot. I learn a lot.  
Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 15 2025 20:42 utc | 452
 
***************
 
Keep trying Don. The ultimate goal is to fail spectacularly. Takes lots of practice, but you only get one go at it in the final round..
 
I’ll stop here before someone brands this most enjoyable thread “Silly Sunday”.

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 15 2025 21:04 utc | 454

General, I refuse to be refuted by your 454. You are free to challenge due proceedings again on linguistical grounds. My countering strategy will involve another few rounds of grog, then going on to pronounce those two words above in front of a representative assembly of barflies to see if there is any difference at all. 

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 21:14 utc | 456

Is pain an axiomatic response to my axiomatic choosing of my shin to try and occupy the same space-time continuum coordinates that my coffee table currently occupies?
 
When a wave-function collapses into an observable phenomenon that we humans define as “solidity”, perhaps it does actually mean “this part of the Universe is occupied already”? And attempts to debate this occupation of particular space-time coordinates can end up with secondary phenomena (human definition: bad language) and tertiary phenomena (J R-L definition: Mrs R-L frowning at yours truly)?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 15 2025 21:32 utc | 458

Is pain an axiomatic response to my axiomatic choosing of my shin to try and occupy the same space-time continuum coordinates that my coffee table currently occupies?

 
I’d say no. You can refutisizzle this axiom, among other things I guess, but the problem is likely to persist. If you so wish, some further experimental demonstrations can take place at the bar tonight. I see a possible angle for an argument using Peter’s distinction of truth vs. honesty, but this is likely to remain fruitless as well. 

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 21:46 utc | 460

On thinking about thinking about thinking…
 
My little game with the ‘married quiz’ was not designed to see who was the quickest and smartest at solving the puzzle, but to provide an example for thinking about thinking, how we think, and the assumptions we make about thinking – without even thinking (maybe).
 
The thought came to my mind with an article I read in Scientific American around ten years ago. It explains all that I have to say – and much more – in a much clearer way than I can:
 
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rational-and-irrational-thought-the-thinking-that-iq-tests-miss/
 
Highly recommended. I have a subscription, but I think the above link is open access.

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 15 2025 21:54 utc | 462

Thanks, Don, for manning  the jukebox.
 
I bought a package of magic mushrooms called Philosopher’s Stone in Amsterdam when I was 18 or so, and they did help – when we were traveling back home on the train, having spent all the money in town, and found out we had the wrong ticket, a girl with incredible golden eyes who sat next to us just picked up the bill for us.
 
The word that I’ve been looking for is to dismiss. As in, I will refuse to dismiss another round at the bar for everyone!

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 22:05 utc | 464

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rational-and-irrational-thought-the-thinking-that-iq-tests-miss/ Highly recommended. I have a subscription, but I think the above link is open access.
Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 15 2025 21:54 utc | 464
 
Yes. It is open access.
 
But I have a problem with “rationality” – well more than one .. it is ‘one-sided’ focused usually only on ‘instrumental rationality’   as if it is the only form; it also focuses only on the ‘individual’- the ideological cancer of ‘radical individualism as it ignores ‘communicative rationality’ where at least two agree on definitions of a situation and then reach agreement on how to proceed etc – it may also be ‘strategic’ or ‘latently strategic’ to use Habermasian terms … then on to psychology and ‘cognitive biases’ etc -then onto time and context
the concept has been captured … but definitely not as simple as commonly assumed
 
I’ll leave it up to persiflo to let us know what Heidegger thought or didn’t

Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 15 2025 22:18 utc | 466

The consumption of beer can be an evolutionary process in itself; starting off with teenage parties that actually had Watneys Red Barrel Party Seven, through under-age drinking of naff, mass-produced lagers such as Heineken, Carlsberg and Stella, then one gets taken in hand and introduced to ales, though stuck with Courage Best or Bass; Courage Directors or Wadworth 6X was a precious find, like a black opal or gold field, such resources were kept very quiet.
 
Then some kindly/enlightened souls formed CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale, not posting my membership number here!)  and we’re off and running!
 
Porters, stouts, saisons, Belgian Trappist brews (the darker they are, the stronger they are, don’t ask!)
 
As I type this (carefully! Hic!) I am sampling a coffee stout from Badger Breweries, called Master Stoat, a round of this for barflies and they will all surely mellow out…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 15 2025 22:35 utc | 468

Don Firineach | Nov 15 2025 21:39 utc | 461
 
First general had me laughing,then the philosopher and then you hit me with Monty Python philosophy.  American beer and making love in a canoe….
 
I’ve run out of rocket fuel at the moment so back to coffee. I’ve put in an order for more spirits in a bottle, but its a dry run for me till tomorrow afternoon.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 22:37 utc | 470

On thinking
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz-d9-C_neU&pp=ygUWdGhpbmtpbmcgc3RldmUgZm9yYmVydA%3D%3D
 

Posted by: steini | Nov 15 2025 22:48 utc | 472

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 15 2025 22:37 utc | 471
Here’s a couple for the jukebox.  It’s a rainy day here in LA.  I’m going to curl up with some Max Stirner this evening.    
Rucka Rucka Ali – History of Philosophy
BDP – My Philosophy

Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 15 2025 22:57 utc | 474

The British Rotodyne. Video of it flying begins at about the six minute mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA3AkvxwS_M
 
Rotary wing aircraft appeared very shortly after the first fixed wing and they were all auto rotating rather than driven rotors. First helicopters with mechanically driven rotors not appearing until the forties. All rotary wing aircraft are limited in forward flight by the stall speed of the retreating blade. The rotodyne transfered some weight to the stubby wings and had a faster forward speed. 
 
When I was flying, a small american company had started developing an autogyro for vertical lift off and landing and would transfer all the weight to wings as speed increased. They took it to the point they could stop the two blade rotor when in flight. That lessened the drag and forward speed was not limited by the rotor.
 
I cant remember their name to find the site again now. The prototype they developed would have been a far safer option than the osprey death trap.
 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 23:54 utc | 476

America has the best government money can buy…from Reuters
 
Trump buys at least $82 million in bonds since late August, disclosures show

Trump’s new bond investments span several industries, including sectors that have already benefited, or are benefiting, from his administration’s policy changes such as financial deregulation.

 
Think about the trickle down effect to his family and close friends.
 
The only way to change this form of social organization is to develop enough social bile to reject the God Of Mammon cult of global private finance as part of it and eliminate the inherited class system it supports.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2025 1:13 utc | 478

MbS is coming to DC on Monday with an entourage of 1000 to talk with Trump
 
From ZH
From Nukes To AI-Powered Drones: Saudi Arabia’s MbS Bringing Wishlist To D.C. Next Week
 
On the labor front there are these from ZH
 
Labor Demographer Issues Warning: College-Educated Oversupply Is Here
 
I wonder how the trades are going to react to all the degreed apprentices forced on their sectors?
 
And lastly there is from ZH the ugly focus on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder when the focus should be on the God Of Mall cult followers……Grrrr
 
All SNAP Beneficiaries Will Need To Reapply For Benefits: Agriculture Secretary
 
I am not saying there is not some fraud at the bottom end but it pales in comparison to the social perfidy at the top which is never portrayed at ZH in such manner.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2025 1:42 utc | 480

I cant remember their name to find the site again now. The prototype they developed would have been a far safer option than the osprey death trap. 
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 23:54 utc | 478
 
*******************
 
Peter – this could be a place to start to jog your memory.
 
https://2024.sci-hub.st/6723/45d7de88ac6daddb6d33baea65151378/hunt1967.pdf
 
I have been interested in gyro’s since the late 60’s but haven’t joined the discussions here because I can’t contribute anything. A few of my friends built their own, and some went on to light plane and ultra-light. A couple of them didn’t last very long. At one stage I briefly considered building and flying – the only real thing I remember is being terrified of heights.
 
What are your thoughts on the Kamov series? Seems to me that they eliminate a few problems of the single rotor designs – at the expense of some pretty fancy control mechanisms. I reckon it would be fun to fly (but not in war!)

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 16 2025 1:54 utc | 482

Everyone missed the huge row flaring up between China and the Yippon dog after their leader said Taiwan is a Yippon concern so any Chinese attempt to reunite Taiwan touches on Yippon’s concerns.
Various Chinese bodies have issued warning travels against Chinese travelling to Yipponland. Chinese airlines have vowed to fully reimburse any cancelled trips.
Expect next Chinese actions if the Yippon dog still refuse to retract statement to be ban on rare earth sales to Yippon companies and freeze in all govt to govt activities.

Posted by: Surferket | Nov 16 2025 2:27 utc | 484

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 15 2025 21:11 utc | 457
 
I don’t think so, Peter!   I know you don’t worry,  and nor you should – but I have a nifty one for you this evening to go with those striped billiardball mountains you showed us a day ago that hadn’t even been discovered the only time I was on your island/continent back in the day.  Very neat that!
 
Here’s my contribution on that score — I just picked up a freebie down at the mailbox area that’s more to my taste than yours, but this excerpt was so similar to the above, so even in lil ol New Mexico the description was worth noting:-
 

…   One afternoon in the autumn of 1851 a solitary horseman, followed by a pack mule, was pushing through an arid stretch of country somewhere in  central New Mexico.  He had lost his way, and was trying to get back to the trail, with only his compass and his sense of direction for guides.  The difficulty was that the country in which he found himself was so featurless — or rather, that it was crowded with features, all exactly alike.  As far as he could see, on every side, the landscape was heaped up into monotonous red sand-hills, not much larger than haycocks, and very much the shape of haycocks.  One could not have believed that in the number of square miles a man is able to sweep with the eye there could be so many uniform red hills.  He had been riding among the since early morning,  and the look of the country had no more changed than if he had stood still.  He must have travelled through thirty miles of these conical red hills, winding his way in the narrow cracks between them, and he had begun to think that he would never see anything else.  They were so exactly lie one another that he seemed to be wandering in some geometrical nightmare;  flattened cones, they were,  more the shape of Mexican ovens than haycocks  —  yes, exactly the shape of Mexican ovens, red as brick-dust, and naked of vegitation except for small juniper trees.  And the junipers, too, were the shape of Mexican ovens.  Every conical hill was spotted with smaller cones of juniper, a uniform yellowish green,  as the hills were a uniform red.  The hills thrust out of the ground so thickly that they seemed to be pushing each other,  elbowing each other aside,  tipping each other over….
[“Death Comes For the Archbiship” by Willa Cather]

Posted by: juliania | Nov 16 2025 2:38 utc | 486

My last contribution this evening on the subject of the length of winter.  Which I think relates to the following comment:
 

I’m finding it difficult to find an example of an honest fact that is untrue… Maybe the bar can help me?

Posted by: General Factotum | Nov 15 2025 20:29 utc | 451
 
I propose a category of  facts that are both true and untrue.  For instance: the length of winter.  Lots of ideas about this.   Which is right?  For me, winter begins November 21st and ends on the winter solstice.  It’s a time I can see on my southern horizon – the sun’s not out of sight but it is getting between lampposts over there, never mind the horizon’s a wee bit closer than say a flatter landscape would provide.  That’s my horizon.
 
 
Others might have a quibble as to when winter begins but I have a strong fact for when it ends.  The sun starts on its way back the day after the solstice.
 
Lampposts don’t lie.
 
 

Posted by: juliania | Nov 16 2025 3:07 utc | 488

I am watching the latest Danny Haiphong/Mark Sleboda video about Ukraine and am going to go out on a limb and concur with others that have posited that Z is going to Greece this weekend and won’t come back.
 
At the end of that video they talk about Venezuela and the opinion is that Trump now has do do something but will likely be limited.  I am now thinking that Trump is going to use Venezuela as a distraction away from Ukraine going down.  Trump can play attack on Venezuela as big and as long a swamp effort as necessary, eh?
 
And being able to get some hold on Venezuela resources adds collateral to the weak empire bottom line and staves off collapse

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2025 3:42 utc | 490

you probably didn’t see it, but i am still curious! @ juliania | Nov 15 2025 2:26 utc | 413 it sounds as though you have a copy of the philokalia… have you read all 5 volumes juliania? Posted by: james | Nov 15 2025 4:40 utc | 417
Posted by: james | Nov 16 2025 2:53 utc | 493
 
Thanks for persisting, james.  I do have the early volumes, indeed I do.  Not the fifth volume.   I can’t say I’ve read every text therein but I do have them.  They are actually not large volumes,  more like selections from each of the writers with much not yet available in English, or not available when the project was undertaken to do the translation into English, so would have been.  From about the 4th century on.  

Posted by: juliania | Nov 16 2025 3:58 utc | 492

Posted by: james | Nov 16 2025 4:01 utc | 501
 
Yes, that’s why I don’t have the 5th — 2023 I think.  

Posted by: juliania | Nov 16 2025 4:23 utc | 494

psychohistorian | Nov 16 2025 3:42 utc | 498
 
Have just watched or most of it. While Sleboda was talking, I thought about the corruption stuff a bit. That anti-corruption unit was I think set up by the Europeans.  B did a bit of a write up on back when Zelensky tried to defang that unit but the Europeans went against Zelensky and ordered him to reinstate it. The Brits have  waiting in the wings.
With the Americaqns no longer throwing money at Ukraine, the Europeans are finding the war and Ukraine difficult to fund, even more so with the massive corruption there.
Zelensky and his crowd are nothing more than Jewish mafia, in it for the money. Zaluzhny is an ideological Bandera Nazi. The Bandera Nazis do want the money spent on weapons rather than funding Zelensky’s mansions and filling his offshore bank accounts.
 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 16 2025 5:49 utc | 496

@ Peter AU1 | Nov 16 2025 5:52 utc | 499 about potential leadership change
 
What does the military do while the political kabuki plays out?
 
I think the results on the ground are in the drivers seat in Ukraine.  The EU/UK/US can shuck and jive all they want but w/o boots on the ground to potentially change the outcome, Russia is bringing Ukraine to its knees.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2025 6:01 utc | 498

link for last posting
 
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/sharp-escalation-americans-starting-revolt-against-data-centers

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2025 6:20 utc | 500