Posted by: Ken Hausle | Mar 16 2026 21:00 utc | 201The problem with helium is that it can escape the earth’s gravity and disappear into space.The miniscule amounts in the atmosphere (from which it can just about be extracted) is just passing through.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Mar 16 2026 21:19 utc | 215
 
************************
 
From the current Iran thread.
 
Helium is an interesting example of many things for many reasons. From a scientific ‘theoretic curiosity’ – helium was discovered (1868 by Pierre Janssen) and its properties largely quantified before its existence was experimentally confirmed (first isolated by William Ramsay in 1895 – earning him a Nobel Prize) to a key industrial resource. The astonishing prediction and discovery achievement was the result of the newly developing physics discipline of spectroscopy. 
 
Other researchers in the field of spectroscopy (Kirchhoff, Bunsen, …) continued and proposed such phenomena as the greenhouse effect.
 
Here is a wonderful opportunity for all those skeptics, naysayers, science ridiculers etc. – Prove that the same science that discovered and quantified helium before its physical existence was even known ( and established the science of greenhouse effect/ climate change ) is also wrong. That helium doesn’t really exist. That the whole helium industry’ is a massive fraud set up by greedy physicists to extort money from the semiconductor industry (which they must have anticipated more than 100 years before quantum mechanics predicted the properties of semiconductors and the ensuing massive industry) and funding for deceptive research grants.
 
An irresistible opportunity?? You could also earn massive rewards for using cheaper materials that bypass this massive fraud!

Posted by: General Factotum | Mar 17 2026 5:31 utc | 204

cop came from copper because they used to wear copper badges

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 17 2026 8:57 utc | 206

Posted by: General Factotum | Mar 16 2026 8:55 utc | 143
“A ‘thought experiment’: Suppose there was a drop of mercury in a weightless environment (Space Station?). Would it be a perfect sphere? (Why/why not?) Oh – and don’t forget to factor in the electron probability density function when considering the ‘bumpiness’ of the atomic surface – in particular, at the precise time that I will be measuring and inspecting the surface 🙂”
 
Well I thought I’d wait for the original person to answer your question first.
 
24 hours later :
 
No it won’ t be a perfect sphere.
 
Why:
Subatomic scale:
1. At the quantum level, electron density moving through each atom as a flux will impact the shape of each Hg atom. Electrons also spin in paired opposite directions and that may have an effect as well – angular momentum etc. Electrons have no rest mass, but have momentum and thus a force when moving. Each atom impacts different forces on all atoms around it causing distortions as well. Given it is a metal electrons move between the atoms as a flux as well.  
 
Macroscopic scale:
2. Vibrations between each Hg atom. Since it is in liquid form and all atoms absorb energy  vibrating as a consequence, this will also cause variations throughout a globule suspended in the atmosphere, or vacuum, inside the space station also distorting the form.
3. No sample of Hg would be really 100% pure, so impurities, no matter how few would cause inconsistencies as well distorting the sphere.  
4. If there is an atmosphere in the weightless environment, movement of other gaseous particles would cause unequal high speed collisions (air/gas pressure) with the Hg globule distorting the form as well.
5. If the Hg is in a liquid form it would be losing atoms to the atmosphere (or vacuum) given the kinetic energy related vibratory movement between atoms and the propensity for Hg to be a fairly volatile element in the liquid state. Entropy and diffusion. Cf. Mercury and Hermes were messengers spreading information throughout the ancient world. More distortions.
6. Possible static electrical effects and disturbances in the local environment from other bodies even if they are minimal effects. Other unsuspected Chaos influences.
7. Gravitational effects. Even if the Hg is a small globule it would still be affected by gravitational forces that impact on all bodies in space. Same with extremely subtle attraction forces from materials like walls within the space station.
 

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Mar 17 2026 9:20 utc | 208

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 17 2026 9:21 utc | 214
 
Copper comes from Cuprum which is Latin (if my memory serves me well).
Copper in French is Cuivre. Pronounced like Kweevr 
 
This is interesting:  https://www.civil-war.net/why-are-police-called-coppers/

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Mar 17 2026 9:27 utc | 210

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Mar 17 2026 9:20 utc | 213
 
********************
 
George – I like your thinking, but I will take the liberty to question a couple of things.
 
‘Spin’ is a quantum property. It is misleading to think of it in terms of ‘paired electrons spinning in opposite directions’. In paired electrons, one electron has ‘spin up’, while the other has ‘spin down’. It is an assigned quantum state, rather than a description of physically spinning in a certain direction. It may be useful to look into the physics of MRI where the RF pulse flips the precessing spin state (quantum spin state) and the flipped state decay emits the detectable signal. Understanding that will provide a sort of ‘visual’ for the meaning of spin states. Unpaired electrons in an atom are responsible for paramagnetism and ferromagnetism, whereas diamagnetism arises from paired electrons cancelling out their magnetic dipoles. Understanding the spin state is essential for understanding the origin of these effects. A little thought may suggest why ‘spinning in a direction’ is an implausible explanation… and then it will become clear why the spin state doesn’t have any bearing on the angular momentum of the electron.
 
Electrons absolutely do have rest mass. The mass is an intrinsic, frame-invariant property of the electron. The rest mass is crucial for determining the rest energy of the electron (about half an MeV) and also for defining and quantifying a lot of physical constants (such as the fine structure constant, the Rydberg constant, etc).
 
Momentum and force are quite different quantities. A ‘naive’ observation: force will change momentum, but momentum does not change force… Look at the dimensions: force is mlt^-2 and momentum is mlt^-1. In fact, it is often useful to think of force as the time rate of change of momentum [ F = d/dt(mv)  ]
 
Forgive me for throwing in the electron probability distribution. As with most things, ‘there is always more to the story’. Ponder on the fact that the inner electrons of large atoms spend a finite time inside the nucleus – and then try to visualise that event (then explain it to me, because I can’t!).
 
And just because we are talking about spheres it is not possible to not mention pi! Just before last Saturday, “Pi Day”, 14 March, 3.14 – but not in Australia (why is the US special??) a group calculated pi to 314 trillion digits. 
 
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/engineers-smash-pi-record-with-one-machine
 
Ha!! now I can calculate things much more accurately – almost perfectly! 🙂

Posted by: General Factotum | Mar 17 2026 11:05 utc | 212

The Grayzone: Eyewitness To War on the Cuban People
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD13qVxL73I
 
“Deprivation and depopulation: inside Cuba under US siege..”
 
When will Americans rise?

Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 17 2026 13:10 utc | 214

james @ 208
 
One more little Police story. When I saw them as a bar band Roxanne had come and gone and they might have been a one-hit wonder. The three of them all had unbelievably bad skin, bad acne. Disfiguring. Presume they’ve all had dermabrasion or something since. Anyway while setting up no one even wanted to look at them. Within thirty seconds of first song every woman in the club wanted to fuck them.
 
Also at least two thirds of the drinkers left bar because too loud and what kind of r&r is this shit? Lots of foot traffic at Belden and Lincoln, most who just walked in walked right back out. Those who stayed more than a minute all became fans.

Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 17 2026 13:19 utc | 216

Opal…. I have spent some perfectly good booze money buying opal and it looks like its been pissed down the drain.
Looks like there are a few tricks to selling opal on the internet.
 
Sandy stuff – leave it to soak in water for a few days and it looks to be all colour. When the opal started tuning up in the mail several parcels looked nothing like what I had bought. Threw it all in a tray of water as that is when you see the colour in rough. Still nothing. But two days later as the sandstone soaked through and they started to look like what I had bought. All bloody crap. 
 
The other trick is seeling small stones by putting them in a small jar of water. The curved edge of the jar magnifies them. 
Out of what has arrived, I may have had a small win on one lot and break even on another. 
 
Had a look at what is still to arrive and hopefully I will do better out of that. If not, some perfectly good booze money wasted. This opal cutting, I could sit there and do it forever, but it may mean trips to the opal fields to buy it rather than trying to buy off the net.
 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 17 2026 19:26 utc | 218

James @ 221
 
Dead thread so OT fine. The Police at Katzenjammer Kids started with an audience of maybe 20 and grew to 100. It was not long after Johnny Weiss gave up his eponymous tavern and it still did look quaint, last basic neighborhood bar in Lincoln Park.
Cubby Bear for Lee Scratch Perry a pretty well known spot. Maybe 500 capacity and past capacity. Still a bar.
Idris Muhammad I saw on the beach at 72nd Street backing up Ahmad Jamal. Jamal was supposed to play at 7 p.m. but all day many amazing bands and it was maybe 10 when he came on. Technically the park was closed but 2 or 3 thousand in attendance and a beautiful summer evening. And the cops wanted to see Ahmad Jamal too. As one of the extremely few white boys in attendance I was obliged to eat just lots of barbecue ribs. Some of them truly great ribs from the family pigs back in Tennessee. Ahmad Jamal as great as you would expect.
 
The venue really does matter.

Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 17 2026 19:45 utc | 220

I heard about a rave party in St. Petersburg that was so good that when the cops came to bust it, they instead joined in and danced their socks off.

Posted by: persiflo | Mar 17 2026 21:23 utc | 222

South Africa’s Basic Sovereignty Has Been Openly Challenged by the New US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III
 
https://x.com/DavidHundeyin/status/2033096867991449894
 
“He has already made it clear that his mission in South Africa is to undermine BRICS by getting the country to sever its ties to China, and to pressure the  South African government to abandon its genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
 
Mr Bozell must be immediately expelled from South Africa*, and Pretoria should take the opportunity to fundamentally reevaluate its entire diplomatic strategy for dealing with the US…”
 
Ideally, all countries would expel both US and Israeli ambassadors and cut relations with these evil scofflaw regimes.

Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 18 2026 0:02 utc | 224

A perfect circle…. 360 degree Annalena Baerbock comes to mind. Also much circle jerking now going on in Washington I would assume.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 18 2026 2:39 utc | 226

Peter AU1,
what’s your take on pakistan & iran?  china backs both…yet pakistan bombs kabul?

Posted by: emersonreturn | Mar 18 2026 3:33 utc | 228

John Gilberts | Mar 18 2026 3:39 utc | 233
 
Yeah. Same here. Austral has a population of around 25 million. We’re up for half a trillion over the next couple decades. The US nuke submarine base at Fremantle is a big chunk of it but there’s ships, tanks, aircraft, helicopters ect ect. 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 18 2026 3:50 utc | 230

emersonreturn | Mar 18 2026 3:33 utc | 232
 
I’m not sure what to make of it. The US ousted Khan with the Pak military. Khan would not allow US to base drones there. After ousting Khan, US conducted some drone strikes into Afghanistan. so I assume they got back into Pakistan. Khan was very aware of the origins of the mess in the region which began when the CIA sent jihadists and Wahhabi clerics into Afghanistan and Pakistan beginning 1979.
 
The Pak – Afghan hostilities may well be the doings of the CIA.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 18 2026 4:21 utc | 232

Posted by: emersonreturn | Mar 18 2026 2:34 utc | 229
 
Re: RC US wunderwaffe.
I had been postulating to friends in conversation that US remote control of sold weaponry should be considered a certainty.
I had cited the case of the abysmal failure of US-made air defense systems in Saudi Arabia as a possible case in point.
 
You would have to be stark raving mad to trust the US on anything. They are always, and I mean always, looking for advantage over friend and foe alike. It is a cabal run by psychopathic, sadistic control freaks.
 
Horrifyingly, it makes it far easier for the US to stage attacks on any target of their choosing, and start new wars.
Some have even floated the hypothesis that the 9/11 attack may have used remote override to control the planes. I’m not convinced this was the case, but the possibility is certainly there.
MH370? You just never know. The US is capable of any evil imaginable (that doesn’t violate the laws of physics).

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Mar 18 2026 9:41 utc | 234

Dunno where to put this, but I’ve seen people accuse Kirill Dmitriev of sucking up to the USA. What does one make of this?
https://ria.ru/20260318/glava-2081321847.html

Dmitriev suggested that the United States impose sanctions against Britain and the EU
Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and special presidential envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, suggested that the United States impose sanctions on Britain and the European Union for destroying Western civilization and unwillingness to help Washington with the Strait of Hormuz, as well as lift sanctions against Russia and thereby support global energy markets.

There’s also a link to a tweet he made.
https://xcancel.com/kadmitriev/status/2033999963797987479
And I thought Russia and Iran were allies, WTF?

Posted by: joey_n | Mar 18 2026 10:14 utc | 236

@ oldhippie | Mar 17 2026 19:45 utc | 224// 225
 
you saw a lot of great music! and yes, i think the venue does matter… you know i don’t know anything about oscar brown jr…. i am listening to him now and he’s quite good… soulful, maybe gospel fused… its a song called ‘bother where are you? – great track…. there is a drummer who played with esperanza spalding with a similar name to oscar brown jr.. i wonder if they are related.. i can’t find anything on him, but saw a live performance with his name in the credits.. 
 
have you ever gone to any of those AACM music events?? muhal richard abrams, and various musicians like that? ken vandermark is also from chicago if i am not mistaken.. the vancouver jazz festival would always bring these guys out for there summer festival.. they are still going.. 

Posted by: james | Mar 18 2026 15:47 utc | 238

not Love venues, rather Other venues

Posted by: Lavieja | Mar 18 2026 18:42 utc | 240

I just had a thought with respect to perfect spheres, or to other Euclidean geometrical ideas — it has been posed that such do not exist other than in ‘imagination’, but the problem with that is that it seems such ideas are universal – so we are not simply each individually ‘imagining’ these things but there is a commonality to our ability to envision such ‘imagined’ perfections in the real world.  It’s that commonality which ought to interest us, it seems to me.  That plus the obvious link to our imperfect world, that such ideas correspond in some way to how imperfect things can be organized and used.
 
Posted by: juliania | Mar 17 2026 1:20 utc | 197

 
That would be because the means to those “imaginations” are given to us as part of our mental (noetic) makeup. This is also why we can use those ideas to correspond the imperfect things of “reality”. What links those two is not just our ability to experience “things”, but to also possess logic. I claim, with Edmund Husserl in the Logische Untersuchungen from 1898/99 which first made him world-famous, that logic is not something we attain from experience of the world, but rather that it is found within the abilities of consciousness. 

Posted by: persiflo | Mar 18 2026 19:31 utc | 242

james
 
Signifying Monkey, Long as You’re Living, lyrics to Afro Blue. Oscar Brown was just huge.  That you don’t know him or that I saw him in an audience of two is kind of amazing.
 
He had little use for white people so I did not know him. Did get to know Maggie a bit.

Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 18 2026 20:08 utc | 244

With the infrastructure war in the Persian Gulf kicking off, energy prices will skyrocket and I am completely out of energy. Bugger the opal and gold and stuff. Should be setting up a drill rig in my back yard to drill for oil though I suspect there is none under where I am.
 
Have to get my sander set up now for doing the pre polish and polish on the stones I have roughed out. Dop sticks turned up yesterday. Some stones are that small though I will use some 3mm wooden skewers I found in the cupboard. Dopping and finishing looks like tedious affair to me. I like grinding the rough to see what is revealed. Some stone cutters wear those funny looking magnifiers especially for cutting the small stones. Worst comes to worst
 
Have to make a metho burning Molotov cocktail as that’s what they use for heating the wax and stone. Threw out the ideal bottle a few weeks back. Next problem after finding a suitable bottle will be finding some pure cotton rag for a wick, as most things seem to contain a larger or lesser amount of polyester. (I’m to bloody cheap to just buy one)

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 18 2026 20:37 utc | 246

Suddenly to my ear comes the name of the bar (venue) for The Country Gentlemen in D.C. after trying to remember for years — it was The Shamrock.
Just listened to Clifton Chenier whom I never heard before. I’m sold.
Different genre, but it brings to mind a song “Wondering” by Webb Pierce; it’s was originally on an old Decca 45.

Posted by: Lavieja | Mar 18 2026 21:35 utc | 248

 ‘In Jamaica, the people made clear their anger after their government succumbed to U.S. pressure tactics. A gratitude walk was held as marchers chanted, “We love Cuba,” “Bring back the nurses,” “Bring back the doctors,” and “Jamaica loves Cuba.” ‘
 
Black Agenda Report:  “Cuba, Venezuela and Regime Change”, Mar. 18

Posted by: Lavieja | Mar 18 2026 22:19 utc | 250

I take it that you agree however, that the Hg sphere would not be perfect in form. 
Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Mar 18 2026 7:28 utc | 237
 
*****************
 
My favorite uncle used to say ‘memory is such a frail vehicle’… So I am also keen for corrections to my memory. And yes, the mercury droplet will always fall short of perfection – for at least all the reasons you proposed. It would be interesting to add to those – one that comes to mind is radiation pressure from the light used to see and measure the damned drop…
 
Talking about memory. While no-one really understands how the brain/memory works, my understanding of the brain memory function currently most widely accepted is that the memory item is ‘read off’ when accessed, and re-written when stored after use. If this is indeed the case, it would help explain why memories that we are so certain about are not (or may not be) correct – after being re-visited and re-written so many times.
 
An example: we were recently reminiscing about my sister’s wedding, which was about 55 years ago, for which she made all the dresses. I vividly remember the weeding. I was recalling the dresses in graphic detail, only to be ‘corrected’ by my lovely wife. So, of course, I spent a lot of time digging out old photos to prove… I was completely wrong… Bugger!!

Posted by: General Factotum | Mar 19 2026 0:47 utc | 252

General Factotum | Mar 19 2026 1:02 utc | 257
 
Thanks General. I have some fibreglass in the shed so will see if I can knock up a wick out of that.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 19 2026 1:08 utc | 254

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 19 2026 3:59 utc | 259
 
Orban is a zionist, though, so Hungarians are kind of out of luck as far as having a choice.
 
If I were Hungarian, I dont know how id vote, honestly.  I probably wouldn’t.

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 19 2026 4:04 utc | 256

Posted by: General Factotum | Mar 19 2026 0:47 utc | 256
 
The good thing about science is that it can allow people to leave their egos at the door.  If you understand that it is the closest truth no matter who it comes from that is important to science and not the preferred views of the person presenting the argument, then it is a good thing. So being corrected is not about your own worth. I read a story about a scientist once who spent his entire life elaborating a theory that was well accepted by many others, only to have it entirely debunked at the end of his career! He went up to the presenter of the new theory who brought the new evidence forward, then shook his hand and said “congratulations” you are correct. It would be good to see more of that here on these threads sometimes.  
 
Yes memory is very a very interesting topic and after having studied cognitive science as part of a philosophy grad. dip. back in about 2012, it is now thought to be clearly linked to the environment we live in that constantly refreshes our knowledge. So a bit of microcosm-macrocosm interrelationship going on there. we are inexorably connected to the world around us even with memory
 
Contextual memory is an interesting example. Like if you have been away somewhere for a holiday but on the way back home you start remembering people and things that you have to do as visual cues trigger the mind. Fascinating stuff.
 
 

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Mar 19 2026 4:37 utc | 258

@ Peter AU1
 
It seems every web site I go to now wants to sell me opals…..grin
 
It is good to read you are figuring opal work out and innovating along the way which is what I enjoy being part of projects I engage in.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 19 2026 5:50 utc | 260

psychohistorian | Mar 19 2026 6:14 utc | 265
 
This will be one very interesting year I think. With Ukraine and Russia, US left the door open so it could get out again, But with Iran, either the US or Iran or both have locked the door and now the US cannot leave.
 
The observation in that piece on Iran fighting an economic way. All Iran has to do now is ensure the door stays locked so the US can’t get out and keep on fighting and selectively blocking the Strait till US/western economy has collapsed.
 
On the opal, I have a number of pieces from two lightning ridge sellers. will be bidding on a couple more of their pieces over the next couple of days then get them to post the parcels. Hopefully they will be better than my first buys. A piece of Coober Pedy crystal coming up at 10pm tonight so have to wait up for that. I had bought one small parcel of Coober Pedy rough and that turned out to be mostly opalized shells. They cut okay for the price. Will leave them as shells with a bit of colour.
 
Coober Pedy white opal doesn’t bring anywhere near the price of good Lightning Ridge stuff but less risk. Good CP crystal though will make close to the same value as LR crystal but it needs to be clear, not milky.
 
Puttered about a bit today and got my sander set up. Found a jar for my Metho Molatov and some fiberglass for a wick as General suggested so will make that tomorrow.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 19 2026 6:43 utc | 262

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 19 2026 6:46 utc | 267
 
Google only sell you the carton wrapped as a beautiful gift, you might be shocked when you open the package and actually meet the contents.

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Mar 19 2026 7:30 utc | 264

https://archive.ph/zKsDw
 
US says mainland China not planning to attack Taiwan in 2027 after threat assessment
 
Beijing seeks to control the island without the use of force, the US intelligence community says in its annual report on global threats
 
Beijing is unlikely to attack Taiwan next year, given security and economic deterrents, including its belief that an amphibious assault could fail and that the technological, supply chain and investor costs would be huge, according to a US threat assessment released on Wednesday.
 
The intelligence overview appeared to walk back a projection by the Pentagon last year that Beijing wanted to take the self-governing island by force as early as 2027 and comes as US President Donald Trump takes a more conciliatory tone towards China.
 
Trump said on Tuesday that a planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing set for later this month would be postponed “a month or so” given the Israel-US war on Iran.
 
“Beijing probably will continue seeking to set the conditions for eventual unification with Taiwan short of conflict,” noted the 34-page report released annually on global risks facing the US. China has no immediate timeline for achieving unification, it added.
 
Trump has credited his power and personal rapport with Xi for holding off any near-term attack on the democratic island, claiming last August that “he told me, ‘I will never do it as long as you’re president’”, a pledge Beijing has ‌never confirmed.
 
According to the US intelligence community, Beijing will continue working to reduce the US military presence in the Indo-Pacific region and to strengthen its conventional, strategic and space forces and technological base.
 
China remains highly wary of the US, the report said, convinced Washington is intent on containing the Asian giant despite Trump’s efforts to bolster ties with Xi.
 
“Beijing has been deeply suspicious of Washington’s intentions and has long viewed the US as pursuing a coordinated effort to contain China’s development and rise, undermine Communist Party rule, and prevent the country from achieving its aims,” the report said.
 
Also on the intelligence community’s radar is China’s growing muscle in the Arctic, increased missile delivery systems capable of striking the US and advances in low-cost drones “to stress US missile defences”.

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 19 2026 9:14 utc | 266

Posted by: juliania | Mar 19 2026 10:22 utc | 271
 
One of my best nights was a near mountain top, a small, flat, sandy, bed, just big enough for me, where snow usually was, surrounded by tiny little alpine trees no more than 3 feet high.
 
They cast a black silhouette against the stars and milky way, and quietly whistled from the slight breeze they shielded me from, all night.
 
I’d wake up every now and then, and be amazed at the dream I was living.

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 19 2026 10:33 utc | 268

…    I claim, with Edmund Husserl in the Logische Untersuchungen from 1898/99 which first made him world-famous, that logic is not something we attain from experience of the world, but rather that it is found within the abilities of consciousness. 
 
Posted by: persiflo | Mar 18 2026 19:31 utc | 246
 
Logic is a two-edged sword, persiflo.  Plato made fun of logic.  All through the Dialogues.  We can’t really pick up on that because our commonalities aren’t the same as those of the ancient Greeks.  I just know it’s there without being able to describe it in detail.  Aristotle does it a different way, using logic in earnest.   A bit similar to the Platonic ‘take’ is the way Alex Christoforou often does his commentaries.   
 

Posted by: juliania | Mar 19 2026 10:59 utc | 270

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 19 2026 10:33 utc | 272
 
Thanks, UW.  When I was little, I used to think that crickets chirping were the stars singing as they twinkled.   I would have voted for Marianne – hurricanes used to be female, why not carriers?  Maybe the Marie Antoinette  would be appropriate these days.
 
Back to bed is appropriate for me.

Posted by: juliania | Mar 19 2026 11:20 utc | 272

Maybe the Marie Antoinette would be appropriate these days.
 
LoL

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 19 2026 11:32 utc | 274

From Reuters –
“Russian officials promised compensation to farmers in the Novosibirsk ​region on Thursday, where authorities have ordered thousands of cattle to be culled, sparking Russia’s largest non-political ‌protests since the start of the war in Ukraine.The Siberian Novosibirsk region declared a state of emergency to tackle a cattle disease outbreak earlier this week. Officials said they had identified outbreaks of pasteurellosis – a severe bacterial pneumonia – and rabies….
 
…….Sergei Dankvert, the head of the government commission, said on Wednesday that the disease had taken an unusual form and started to mutate, prompting tough measures from authorities.”
 
Looks like a case of CIA bio warfare on the Russian food industry. CIA have a track record in that line of work. Possibly MI6 with a 007 bug from Porton Down.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 19 2026 12:15 utc | 276

I didn’t realise the mountain goats were that large. The goats here are all introduced. Many of the original settlers had a few goats for milk and meat and the feral goats have developed from them.
Because of the demand for goat meat, goat breeding from the feral goats crossed with good meat breeds kicked off in the early 200o’s in western Queensland. They are hardy and with thrive where cattle and sheep will die.
 
I caught all those goats but never tried one for meat. Supposed to be just as good as lamb. Should have tried a young billy or a doe for a killer but didn’t. Never even thought about it really as everyone just ate mutton or beef. Should have tried a lizard when in the Kimberly’s and one was cooked up but didn’t try that either.
 
With this mammal allergy, if there were big lizards around here I’d be trying to catch one for something different to chicken and fish. Though have been able to eat ham for the last couple of weeks without reacting to it so after twenty years, the mammal allergy may finally be starting to ease off.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 19 2026 12:37 utc | 278

“Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.“- Kant
 
Kant was gay. He lived with his servant Lampe for most of his life. I would love to script a biopic about him one day. The opening scene would show a nightsky and a bit of smike from a campfire above the trees. Kant says his famous words in a funny accent, then the camera zooms out to reveal him and Lampe sitting close together, Kant’s hand firmly on his buddie’s butt. 
 
The stars is what I miss most about city life. My best night was when we rented a Jeep somewhere in Utah and hit off on an old miner’s trail which went over a high plateau, where we camped. Lying on the warm rock I was completely taken by the scenery. 

Posted by: persiflo | Mar 19 2026 12:57 utc | 280

Frequently found gifts on the drivers seat. They had opened the door and knew but only kindness and generosity on display. This would not happen now.
 
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 19 2026 13:06 utc | 285
 
what does this mean?

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 19 2026 13:41 utc | 282

@ oldhippie | Mar 19 2026 12:54 utc | 283
 
thanks for the overview oldhippie…. what is vons son chico up to?? 
 
@ oldhippie | Mar 19 2026 13:06 utc | 285
 
interesting story…. i had a friend who went to chicago for the blues festival a few years ago.. i suppose it was the one where eric clapton had put on.. i don’t know if it is still happening…  southside is where chess records, willie dixon and a lot of blues guys were based in right??   i too am curious about what uwdude asks here… what kind of gifts?? 
 
i used to have a few austins with the wooden dashboards… back in mid 70’s.. i really enjoyed the car – sporty, but both of them had engine oil probs… i got them for cheap 200$ cars basically.. when they died, they died, lol… no resuscitation.. 

Posted by: james | Mar 19 2026 15:40 utc | 284

UWDude | Mar 19 2026 10:53 utc | 273
(re France to build new nuclear-engined aircraft carrier)
 
Not impressed.
Britain could build at least three rowing-boats in that time, and probably at no extra cost.

Posted by: Cynic | Mar 19 2026 17:04 utc | 286

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 19 2026 17:35 utc | 291
 
Thank you for this.

Posted by: Woke American | Mar 19 2026 18:13 utc | 288

293 corrected:
https://x.com/davidrkadler/status/2034665041669009422

Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 19 2026 18:52 utc | 290

james @ 288
Chess Records is south of South Loop but not really South Side. Most jazz and blues guys were SouthSide. The West side did have blues but a much rougher place. I did know a white boy who played bass for Eddie Taylor and got to see gunplay up close at a West side blues bar. And Eddie did die the classic blues death, gunfight over a woman in back room of a bar.
 
The main center of culture was Chatham. South side generally was full of jazz. For most of my life there was a hard split between South Side and the rest of the metro area. Vonski was among those who started to bridge the gap. His brother George who lived forever (97?)  and only just recently passed on played almost exclusively for black audiences. And in blues bars. After Von died he opened up a bit to white audiences and was as amazing as his big brother.
 
Do not/have not kept up with Chico. Met him once the night Von got his honorary doctorate and he seemed like a good guy. Von very proud of him.
 
I was real lucky to be on hand for George’s 80th birthday at Tropical Den, blues bar at 73rd and Exchange. Very old school blues. Play quiet because the audience is drinking and socializing amongst themselves . Not exactly background music but not what most expect. White people tolerated within limits. Don’t come back with your friends please, enough is enough. When you enter you had better go to back of room and pay your respects to Maman who owns the place. 

Posted by: wilsontaxi@yahoo.com | Mar 19 2026 20:20 utc | 292

“Swiss Colonel EXPOSES Level of US/Israel Strategic Defeat | Col. Jacques Baud”
 
Pascal Lottaz (“Neutrality Studies”) talked to/ interviewed Jaques Baud and they talked about the “Strategic Defeat” of the US and Israel. The screenpicture had the words “It’s worse than you think.” (Click bait ??????)
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bikm25kpn8  (length:  60 minutes).  Date: March 20, 2026.

Posted by: WMG | Mar 20 2026 8:02 utc | 294

“HAVANA — Cuba is preparing to receive its first shipment of Russian oil this year, just days after the government announced it was operating on natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric plants as severe power outages continue to hit an island whose power grid is crumbling.
The Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin is some 3,000 nautical miles from Cuba in the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to reach the island in 10 days, Jorge Piñón, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute, told The Associated Press. (This is reportage from MSM. Is it true that the tanker only travels 300 miles a day?)
If so, that would mark the first time any oil shipment from any country reaches Cuba in the past three months given a U.S. energy blockade.”
 
The Anatoly Kolodkin is carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil. If this Russian oil arrives in Cuba I would guess that Putin is now in the superior bargaining position with Trump thanks to the Iran war, and the critics who criticized Putin for being a fool for keeping up ties with the US  will have to admit Putin was on the right track. Maybe even on the right track for not waging full- out war in Ukraine? Another maybe, RU suspects mistakes were made in Syria, which should silence those (like myself) who have resented RU’s not ‘saving Syria.’ Then IMO one can imagine Russia is rethinking it’s policies with allies. 
 
Still it remains to trouble that the late(r) capitalist world’s retreat from global solidarity makes it even more dangerous.

Posted by: Lavieja | Mar 20 2026 8:22 utc | 296

Lavieja | Mar 20 2026 8:22 utc | 300
 
13 knots is average speed for a cargo vessel.
Yep. 312 nautical miles in 24 hours at 13 knot. A nautical mile is slightly longer than a ground mile – by about 200 meters I think.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 20 2026 9:02 utc | 298

@ psychohistorian | Mar 19 2026 17:35 utc | 291
 
thanks james.. that is quite profound…. i wonder who wrote it? 
 
@ oldhiippie | Mar 19 2026 20:20 utc | 296
 
thanks for the stories and great overview…  i just played a blues gig last night here on vancouver island… there are 4 or 5 players up for the maple blues awards – canadian blues awards and one of them came last night and played 5 or so songs with the band… this guy – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Isaak   he is up for another big award this month in toronto when they have the award ceremonies… don’t know if he will win…. 
 
i have been very fortunate to play music my whole life..  i want to acknowledge my gratitude for having had this opportunity.. 

Posted by: james | Mar 20 2026 15:44 utc | 300