Posted by: KillerDoll | Apr 16 2026 16:17 utc | 3
since 95% of work is a complete waste of time, vanity of vanities as the KJV Bible styles it, the huffing and puffing of pointless hot air, the real problem is not lack of work.
 
who could ever think that lack of work is a problem? who the hell thinks like this?
 
lack of work is freedom.
 
except to wage slaves. and their masters. “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.”
 
i vote that the new currency for the new leisure economy that we are about to enter to be 24 hour Alcoholics Anonymous sobriety chips.  I’ll start out waaaaaaaay ahead, just like Donald Trump did. maybe I can get my name put on the 24 hour sobriety token. 
 
The Byrds – She Don’t Care About Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35FIXggRy-M
 
what in the world is more valuable than my own free time?
 
 

Posted by: duck n cover | Apr 16 2026 16:39 utc | 4

When will Americans rise?
 
Velvet Underground – Rock & Roll around 1970: “despite all the amputations, you could just go out and dance to the rock and roll station.”
 
since 1970, what has changed about limb amputation in the US?
 
“…every textbook Red said, ‘Bring me the bread,’ but we got you instead.” MARCH WORKERS MARCH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acT_PSAZ7BQ
The Coup – The Guillotine 
 
where Americans supposed to march to? McDonald’s? you can tell who is eating too much food, all this empty blubbering about the working class doing something.

Posted by: duck n cover | Apr 16 2026 17:00 utc | 6

duck n cover | Apr 16 2026 16:39 utc | 4—
 
Trouble arises when you ive in a cash economy and have no means to gain cash or have land to raise food that you might sell and eat. Ultimately, the core problem is the need for cash to pay tax. Even if you have land, you still need cash to pay the tax levied on your land. There’s no escape from a cash economy barring some exceptionally rare circumstances very few get to experience.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 16 2026 17:04 utc | 8

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 16 2026 17:04 utc | 8
yeah, a lot of us already have this problem. what’s the penalty for selling SNAP benefits? whereas scamming seniors out of social security is a booming biz.
 
what is work? the Pat Batemans of the world don’t work. fishing a sammich out of the new and improved homeless-proof public trash cans is work. you think spending a day scouring sidewalks for an unscratched lotto ticket is easy?!?!?!? for God’s sake, be kind, leave a little on the end of the cigarette butt! it’s like leaving the corners of the tobacco fields ungleaned, for the orphan children of the asphalt to harvest. Trust me, there are true entrepreneurial spirits who rise before dawn to collect all the butts scattered around the restaurants and bars from the night’s activities. And their homeless neighbors envy them. and from such envy arises the urge to self-improvement, esp by stealing from someone else. 
 
See? capitalism works! 

Posted by: duck n cover | Apr 16 2026 17:44 utc | 10

Karkof –
Only in the USA does one pay thousands upon thousands in property taxes every year, one never owns ones property……in other countries that not the case:
For example: ask too scents what his property taxes are.  
A Buddy of mine moved to Austria a few years ago, just outside Salzburg in a tony suburb. Nice House circa 2,000sqft with ~8,000sqft. Lot
 
His annual property taxes 250€ (~$300)
 
 

Posted by: Exile | Apr 16 2026 18:04 utc | 12

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4575844-henry-paulson-sounds-alarm-on-potential-treasury-market-shock
This warning is from a credible authority and seems timely.

Posted by: Eighthman | Apr 16 2026 18:22 utc | 14

 
Henry Paulson sounds alarm on potential Treasury market shock
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is urging policymakers to prepare contingency measures to stabilize the government bond market in the event of a sudden drop in demand for U.S. Treasuries, warning such a scenario could trigger severe financial disruption.
 
Paulson emphasized the importance of having a rapid-response plan ready to deploy if market conditions deteriorate. Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, he noted, today’s risks are tied more directly to the scale of federal debt and the government’s ongoing financing needs.
 
He cautioned that a breakdown in the roughly $31 trillion Treasury market could create a dangerous feedback loop. As investors demand higher yields to compensate for rising fiscal risks, borrowing costs would climb, further expanding budget deficits and increasing the government’s reliance on debt issuance.
 
In a worst-case scenario, Paulson suggested the Federal Reserve could become the primary buyer of government debt if private demand weakens significantly—an outcome that could drive bond prices lower and push interest rates higher. While the timing of such stress is uncertain, Paulson warned that the consequences could be abrupt and severe, underscoring the need for proactive planning. 

Posted by: exile | Apr 16 2026 19:31 utc | 16

change in avg age of US Congress
ten-year moving averages of growth of various stat
I did not check these. And they omit context, but I think 1980 really was a hinge. Basically the babyboomers did so well the system stuck with them.
 
5 years ago if you asked me I would have named Wilson & Truman as 2 of 3 of the worst US presidents. Now my opinion is Biden & Trump have eclipsed even them. Each with the two biggest, stupidest foreign policy mistakes in the country’s history. With Trump’s the worst of all.

Posted by: JustSomeOldGuy | Apr 16 2026 20:12 utc | 18

Imagine Trump is the worst president so far and there could be even a worser president in the future

Posted by: KillerDoll | Apr 16 2026 20:16 utc | 20

Exile | Apr 16 2026 18:04 utc | 12—
 
Yes, it’s more similar to lease-hold than fee-simple. There’re other ways to finance societies, but most all rely on taxation of some sort–even tariffs are a tax. How does a government eliminate poverty? It increases its economy’s production to the point where enough can be siphoned off to subsidize the impoverished, while also educating them so they can help raise the economy’s rate of production which is what lifted them and will continue doing that for them and others. Yes, problems arise when the rate of production falls, so it’s up to the economy’s managers to continually innovate and modernize so that problem is solved before it happens. Gee, that happens to be the operative goal of China’s political economy.   

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 16 2026 20:40 utc | 22

Another well done AI video on the progressive decline of America, to the tune of “Everybody Knows” by Leonard Cohen.
 
https://x.com/FurkanGozukara/status/2044805772421312757

Posted by: Fool Me Twice | Apr 16 2026 20:46 utc | 24

Imagine Trump is the worst president so far and there could be even a worser president in the future
Posted by: KillerDoll | Apr 16 2026 20:16 utc | 20
 
Worser? seriously?

Posted by: Patroklos | Apr 16 2026 20:50 utc | 26

Karloff @22, what’s your take on “degrowth”, given the impending climate calamity and all.

Posted by: drinky crow | Apr 16 2026 20:53 utc | 28

”Karlofi”. Sorry, stupid phone…..

Posted by: drinky crow | Apr 16 2026 20:55 utc | 30

Many alcoholic beverages arose from humanity’s attempts at purifying, or at least disinfecting, drinking water supplies.
 
Hic…
 
😀

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 16 2026 21:11 utc | 32

 Fool Me Twice | Apr 16 2026 20:50 utc | 25—
 
The New Deal was about eliminating poverty in the 1930s. Do, please, read some history.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 16 2026 21:40 utc | 34

Worser? seriously?
Posted by: Patroklos | Apr 16 2026 20:50 utc | 26
 
****************
 
I thought killer Doll was a young fella. Maybe he has been around much longerer much morer longerer than us…

Posted by: General Factotum | Apr 16 2026 21:56 utc | 36

Pope “idolatrous greed is bad” Leo in Cameroon:
“”The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants. The masters of war pretended not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy…They turn a blind eye to the fact billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation…” 
 
when everything about you, Pope Leo, every word, every breath, every thought, every gesture, is a sanctified and holy con job and fraud, there is no slip of the tongue. Nothing is misspoken. just like with Bezos, or with Trump.
 
Who are these “tyrants”? What countries? Any particular businesses and board members? 
 
best to be careful outing one’s business partners. of the tens of billions of dollars the church’s business partners in the US state spend annually terrorizing immigrants, Catholic Charities just lost $11 million in “immigrant support services” from the USG, cuz Leo is running his mouth. Oh no! the business partnership is threatened.
 
And thank you Pope Leo. Not only do you cover up the scale of the crimes, you completely cover up the prison system, the surveillance state, the automation of state propaganda, etc. Why?
 
cuz you are all partners. now go get some more school privatization scams running while blabbing about education. 

Posted by: duck n cover | Apr 16 2026 22:04 utc | 38

drinky crow | Apr 16 2026 20:55 utc | 30—
 
Thanks for your reply and query. I suggest you look at what’s been happening here in America (I’m assuming you’re an American) since 1988 and the rise of what was called the Service Economy, which was a euphemism for “degrowth.” Genuine GDP was fudged more and more to hide the fact that actual production was declining because it was being offshored. The Dot.Com Bubble and so-called Asian Financial Crisis were all products of Greenspan’s economic policies to promote Neoliberalism and demote Industrial Capitalism, the latter being what made America the power it once was. Another metric to look at is the Homeless Crisis that burst onto the scene and cost GHW Bush his second term–it wasn’t just his broken promise to not raise taxes. If you recall, Clinton made very serious promises about healthcare system reform to a single-payer system, which is why I voted for him. His promises became lies because Hillery worked to destroy the process, which is when my hatred for the Clinton’s began–late 1993 when I relocated to Hawaii again to get its state mandated healthcare. 
 
Degrowth has already begun eating away at the Service Economy, and we already know how poorly manufacturing is performing. Hell, we lack the skilled workforce to construct high tech factories, which is what all those Koreans were doing in Georgia when ICE raided their factory and all but one opted for deportation even after Trump intervened and lied saying it was all a mistake and they were invited to remain and work. I don’t know if that battery factory ever was completed. A Chinese term was coined at the end of last year that I picked up on–The Killing Line–which is the area of income in America where you no longer qualify for any government aid that goes roughly from 30-100K/yr and is closely related to a person’s amount of debt. 
 
Back in the 1950s, Isaac Asimov explored the issue of robots replacing retail workers and how society might react, although he didn’t address factory automation. He also put forth the notion of people forgetting how to make/run things, Atomics was what he chose. I’m certain he was very disappointed there was extremely little public discussion on those issues then and there still isn’t despite the evidence it’s desperately needed. Given the forces that control the American government, raising production so people can be provided for is not anywhere near their minds. For them, the only people who count are the top 10% of the income pyramid, and all policies are made to enrich them exclusively. 
 
Until Americans understand that last sentence and its implications, nothing will improve, and conditions for all will worsen. Look at all the billions Trump is wasting on his Imperial ambitions. In his chat with Danny Haiphong yesterday, Zhang Weiwei said all those billions could have lifted all Americans out of poverty with enough remaining to eliminate most of the world’s extreme poverty. Americans were flat-out lied to by Trump so he could become president again and extract billions of grift for himself, his family and his Gang. Frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t been shot at again. Meanwhile, living simply and reducing your personal debt as much as possible is the best practice. Better if you can form a collective that pools resources like the farmworkers did/do. Turn virtual networks into real human networks that do more than chat and aim at supporting the network. Small communities have done such things for generations.      

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 16 2026 22:23 utc | 40

Looks like Link Limit ate up my first explanation, will try again:
 
First I posted this late Apr 13, to the Trump as Devil thread, where the thread itself was full of rumination about symbols, (and also where I talked a bit about my upbringing in what was essentially a coven of witches).  The only part I knew I had to include was in bold, I even looked it up to make sure I got the Pulp Fiction quote right:
 

PDon’t beg, don’t threaten.  It’s over for you.  Your time has come.  Pain is coming.  Ask for a second opinion next time, you’ll see.  You thought your whole life you could deceive and not meet a one of the throat chakra, from which all truth emanates, and can not be silenced.  Time and time again, I have warned your soul I see your demon hide and smell your demon breath every time, no matter what you call yourself, and every time, you have mocked me.  The demon will not leave you, no matter how much pain, for the demon is now your pain.
 
Judgment has passed, today, I have been waiting so long.  The hatred of righteousness will never be quelled until all those who attempt to poison my brothers are destroyed.     
 
Did you know mind control works best on people who study it?  So to do curses and magic.  I have been granted the blessing to revel in my haminja to release the emotions, from which all sorcerous power flows.   In universal harmony, I have been awake for over 24 hours after having slept for over 24 hours.  The lack of sleep opens the haminja regulators, often leading to illusions and visions, and heightened sorcerous power. 
Oh… ooohhhm, oohhhhm, remember the third eye taunting?  Now you will learn there are those who oohhhm ooohm for peace, harmony, and healing, and those who ohhhm, ohhhm ohhhm for justice, righteous retribution and pain upon all who deceive.  That retribution shall be upon your throat, your chakra you have abused your whole life, meant for truth, used for lies.  You thought it would be upon your liver, where your anger lives, oh no… no… you will see, you will see.  You will feel it when you swallow, when your throat is dry.  Worry not, it will be soon, soon, you will understand.

Posted by: UWDude | Apr 13 2026 21:55 utc | 248
 
 
_______________________________________________________
Then Giyane made a large post 5 hours later, with this little sentence about his father, so I marked it:
 
He died at 43 of throat cancer. 
 
Posted by: Giyane | Apr 14 2026 3:43 utc | 459 
 
 
This chakra again manifests the signal.
Posted by: UWDude | Apr 14 2026 3:54 utc | 467
__________________________________________
 
 
then Today, in the Iran Open thread:
 
During his sermon, Pentagon Chief Hegseth quoted a fictional Bible verse from Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction In Tarantino’s film, one of the main characters, Jules, presents this passage as his own interpretation and uses it to justify his life of crime— it was she whom Hegseth quoted as if it were an authentic biblical verse.: 

The path of the righteous is difficult, because it is hindered by the selfish and tyrannical evil people. Blessed is the shepherd who, in the name of mercy and kindness, leads the weak through the valley of darkness. For he is the one who truly cares for his neighbor and brings back lost children. And I will take great vengeance on them with fierce punishments, on those who plot to poison and harm my brothers. And you will know that I am the Lord when I take great vengeance on them.

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Apr 16 2026 19:50 utc | 69
 
 
 

Posted by: UWDude | Apr 17 2026 4:40 utc | 42

The original explainer was gone for a bit, then came back, so now there are two….
 
I don’t want to clog the Iran thread with the discussion, but tldr, the ability to remote view, (see a place far beyond sight), and precognition are not well understood but well established in studies.  The study recommends more studies, and there is I believe a newer army study that came to the same conclusions….
 
 
…the phenomenon is real, but there has been, as of yet, no way to “summon” the ability.  Basically, it happens at random times, and for random places.  You can not cast it to some spot you’ve never seen in the case of remote viewing,  nor can you  choose a time or event in the future and “look”.  All you can do is recognize the moment of precognition or remote viewing,  and document it, and even then, it is hazy.
 
So you cant just set up a crystal ball and ask who will win the super bowl and what is the score, of course.

Posted by: UWDude | Apr 17 2026 4:55 utc | 44

Thursday Night post market 
 

US 3-MO

3,703

US 10-YR

4,319

 
to put into context, the average interest rate on Federal Debt in 2024 was 3.3%.  The current rates mean all debt rolled over and bew debt will be at significantly  higher rates. My guesstimate for 2026 is an average rate of 3.6% 
 
doesn‘t sound like much but 3.6% equates to 29% of Federal Revenues consumed by interest. 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Posted by: Exile | Apr 17 2026 5:36 utc | 46

lack of work is freedom.

Posted by: duck n cover | Apr 16 2026 16:39 utc | 4

Ya, As a human living modern era, I feel same, maybe many would feel same.

Obviously many “job” these days do not need to exist.
Somehow it looks pain.
In our country,as an employment measure for the elderly, they are employed as road monitors.
They are practically useless. However, the government provides such jobs as a means of income for the elderly with insufficient pensions.

Our world seems to feel taboo about distributing survival supplies for free simply because humans need them, which is why this happens.

Posted by: Nokaz | Apr 17 2026 6:08 utc | 48

3, 4 and 5. persiflo? general? Perhaps emersonreturns? Mathematicians – what is 3, 4 and 5?
 
Wadda you recon UW, what is 3,4 and five 🙂
 
But surely here are those that can use these numbers very commonly used. 3, 4, and 5. Throw some physics equations into it whatever. It is something used all the time.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 7:38 utc | 50

Radius times pie is simple stuff. It just squares things up. commonly used
3, 4, and 5 = ?

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 8:07 utc | 52

“The most obvious application of AI is to replace the political caste.”
@666 | Apr 17 2026 6:20 utc | 49
Sssssh!
 

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Apr 17 2026 8:48 utc | 54

/perches on the brass bar
😀 Splash some of that fiery pond water in a saucer, bartender. The garden is getting sassy and I’m enjoying the show. The madness of the world must be leaving everyone a bit punchy, a touch giddy.
 
/hops toward an unclaimed popcorn
Please, do carry on!

Posted by: titmouse | Apr 17 2026 9:19 utc | 56

I never thought I liked Norm MacDonald.
 
His Weekly Update jokes were ok.
 
I found his stand up yesterday, I tried to find and watch every single joke he ever made.
 
He is really top tier. My god, the “12 minute joke” literally had me laughing the whole time, harder, and harder, and harder, once he got to the part where he was using the cheese sandwich to lure Janice, I was laughing with tears and could not stop laughing, five minutes straight, in fact, I think I literally have a little sore spot in my left lower ribs from laughing so much today. 

Posted by: UWDude | Apr 17 2026 9:40 utc | 58

Ah, you’ll see I wrote for a European audience and only half redacted it back to US / Oz numbers. 
 
Hoping for a big $25K.
 
Ended up with exactly 99% of $25.

Posted by: Kapyong | Apr 17 2026 9:47 utc | 60

If Russia hasn’t fixed their biggest problem of having corrupt and incompetent high ranks after 4 years of war, they will stay as just a regional power at most indefinitely.

Posted by: brutal wizerd | Apr 17 2026 10:31 utc | 62

Posted by: Kapyong | Apr 17 2026 9:42 utc | 59
 
If you haven’t had this profound experience – it just sounds rather silly. If you have, turns out others have too.
 
Anyway – I popped down to the shop and bought a standard lottery ticket for that night. Didn’t matter what I bought – it’d already won.Next morning I took the ticket back, he puts it in the machine – “it’s a winner” he said.
 
“I know” I said  expecting a cheque for $25.000,00.
 
“Here’s your $24.75 sir”
 
*********************
 
Yes – I guess that nails it! The ’99’ is a very significant number. It ‘trumps’ ’88’ any day of the week, but most importantly on a Friday. Sunday too.
 
Did you know that ‘888’ is even more significant? On one of my trips to China I took a short detour to The Great Wall. We walked and climbed and struggled through the crowds, following The Wall to the top of the hill. The view was magnificent. The Guide proudly explained the significance of ‘8’s in Chinese lore, and then reverently explained that the very point at which we were standing was 888 metres above sea level.
 
The ancient Chinese, several thousand years prior to the establishment of the metre, had had the foresight and wisdom to know exactly how high to build that damn Wall so that it embodied that mighty cosmic significance. Clearly, this civilisation was predestined to greatness, but they probably didn’t realise it at the time as they had forgotten to synchronise their water clocks!
 
The Guide, as he politely instructed us, was clearly emotional and spoke with utter reverence; his eyes were misty and he had a catch in his voice. I didn’t know at the time, but now that I know that I knew, but didn’t realise it at the time, that the poor Guide had one of those bloody Chakra’s in his throat.
 
In hindsight, I now realise that it was fortunate that I didn’t know at the time that I really knew, elsewise I fear that in my confusion that I may have felt constrained to institute the Heimlich Maneuver. That would have been futile, because those damned Chakras are notoriously difficult to dislodge. The most efficient method of removal is with a 12-Gauge shotgun. Bit of a shame really, but sometimes one has to kill the patient in order to save him.
 
By the way, $24.75 is 0.099% of $25,000. And mathematical principles being universal, it is irrelevant whether the dollars are US or Australian. Not sure about Euros or Pesos. Anyhow, it hardly matters these days; the zeros are literally nothings, and that little dot, or decimal thingy, is no more than a fly speck – best ignored… and then you are left with a pair of purely significant 9’s.
 

Posted by: General Factotum | Apr 17 2026 11:36 utc | 64

This is a regime that imposes severe austerity on Russians, raising pension age and balancing budgets (before the war). Yet somehow free stuff is readily available for monkey’s “international partners”.

Posted by: darko | Apr 17 2026 12:14 utc | 66

3,4,5 ?
 
Any carpenter can tell you. Thats the easiest way to layout a right angle on a job site: 

Posted by: Exile | Apr 17 2026 12:30 utc | 68

Addendum on Chiffon Margarine.
 
Wikipedia informs that it is hydrogenated cottonseed oil. ==> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiffon_margarine
 
A little about that:
 

1907: Electric lights replace candles. Procter & Gamble’s candle business collapses. They pivot to soap but animal fats are expensive.
 
They need cheaper alternatives. Enter cottonseed oil.
 
Cotton seeds contain oil, but it’s toxic to humans – gossypol, a natural pesticide. The seeds are agricultural waste, fed to cattle in small amounts or discarded.
 
But chemically extract the oil, heat it to extreme temperatures, hydrogenate it with pressurized hydrogen gas, and you get solid white fat that looks like lard but costs pennies.
 
They patent it in 1907, launch Crisco in 1911. Crystallized cottonseed oil.
 
Industrial waste transformed into soap substitute.
 
Except they don’t market it as soap. They market it as food.
 
Problem: nobody wants to eat textile manufacturing waste processed with industrial chemicals. Your grandmother cooks with lard and tallow like humans have for thousands of years.
 
Solution: Convince America that animal fats are killing them.
 
Procter & Gamble spends millions on marketing. Cookbooks, radio shows, free samples. They target Jewish communities advertising Crisco as kosher – “neither meat nor dairy!”
 
But the genius move: 1948. The American Heart Association has $1,700 in their budget. Procter & Gamble donates $1.7 million.
 
Suddenly the AHA has funding and influence. And suddenly they’re very interested in dietary causes of heart disease.
 
1961: The AHA issues first dietary guidelines. Avoid saturated fat from animals. Replace with vegetable oils. Recommended oils: Crisco, Wesson, and other seed oils.
 
Who benefits: Procter & Gamble. Who funded the AHA: Procter & Gamble.
 
The conflict is blatant. Nobody cares.
Never mind that humans ate animal fats for millions of years without epidemic heart disease. Never mind that seed oils oxidize rapidly and integrate into cell membranes creating inflammation for years.
 
Industrial cottonseed waste is now “heart healthy” and butter is “artery-clogging poison.”
 
1980s: Trans fats are discovered to be catastrophically unhealthy. They directly cause heart disease.
 
Procter & Gamble’s response: Quietly reformulate, keep selling seed oils, never acknowledge their “heart healthy” product spent 70 years actively causing disease.
 
No apologies. No compensation. Just reformulate and continue.
 
Modern research shows seed oils cause oxidative stress, inflammatory cascades, mitochondrial dysfunction, increased cancer risk, and neurodegenerative disease.
 
Your body requires exactly zero grams. They didn’t exist in human diets until 1911.
 
But Procter & Gamble needed to sell soap alternatives and accidentally created the largest dietary change in human history. We traded animal fats that built civilizations for factory waste that causes disease.
 
The soap company won.
 
https://x.com/samahoole/status/2003435706643853367

 
As always, Bon Appétit!
 

Posted by: too scents | Apr 17 2026 13:04 utc | 70

71 corrected:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hiRzAUF8BY

Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 17 2026 13:19 utc | 72

@ too scents | Apr 17 2026 13:04 utc | 70
 
Now tell us about P&G’s other great invention in the “edible fats” category: Olestra! 😁🤣🤣

Posted by: malenkov | Apr 17 2026 13:55 utc | 74

when i tell (ethnic) russians which area i moved to when i first moved to russia, they all give me sidelong glances like “wow you moved THERE?!?! how did you survive?” and at the time i didn’t even realize it was supposedly a bad neighborhood, because it was literally nicer than any place i had lived in the US, france, or mexico. russians just have an extremely distorted idea about what “bad neighborhoods” can look like, they think one neighborhood on the outskirts of moscow that is only 70% russian, regardless of how clean, safe, and functional it is, is the end of the fucking universe. doesn’t matter that the rest of the country is 85% ethnic russian and another 10% of people from *extremely* docile ethnicities (e.g. tatars) who have been living on the territory of russian federation for hundreds of years. still they are all “ZOMGZ EVERYTHING IS AWFUL HERE THERE ARE NO MORE RUSSIANS IN RUSSIA”. i really just can’t with these people.

Posted by: generalissimo enhazed | Apr 17 2026 14:27 utc | 76

Peter – do you reckon you can cut me a bit of slack, mate?
Posted by: General Factotum | Apr 17 2026 12:08 utc | 65
 
Exile nailed it. Triangulation. The corner of the 3 and 4 make 90 degrees. Housing is a basic in life. We generally live in housing with squared corners.
 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 15:04 utc | 78

I just remembered what I did find on that pdf that is important, so I had to come back and tell you  …  it’s about Gregory of Nyssa:-
 
Gregory of Nyssa took the concept of Incarnation to mean not only  the birth of Christ but more importantly (it being Eastertime still)  his Passion.  Which gives the discussion about his being both man and God an electrifying trajectory.  Viewing Christ’s Passion in terms of incarnation, who or what is being made incarnate by this?  By Easter?  What does ‘trampling down death by death’ actually mean?
 
The worldly view is to see only the extreme humiliation and be repelled by this.  But so is actual, ordinary birthgiving, down and dirty but a child is born.  Which makes it all worthwhile at least from a parent’s perspective.  And if you really see crucifixion as that kind of a birthing of  a godman (who is a good man cruelly treated by ignorant others)  the humiliating events become an accepted and acceptable part of the process.  As is a pregnant darkness always the opening to glorious light.
 
It’s like a civilization deciding that it won’t have any more birthgiving because it is dirty and humiliating  and only gets us more of those pesky thinkers who agitate and desire to  pull down to their own level those of us who are better by far, and we need more and more of the wealth to convince ourselves that we are worthy.  We need to end birthgiving!
 
Seeing only the humiliation isn’t getting the entire picture.  Which is what the back and forth arguments during early Christian discussions were about.  Gregory of Nyssa was the younger brother of Basil, and both were friends with Gregory Nazianzus, so it’s a family.  Gregory of Nyssa says what he does about incarnation in support of Basil and the other Gregory, who was being attacked by Arian types who were in power pretty much thanks to an emperor who didn’t really know the difference but had done some good things to make these arguments possible.  (Trump-like perhaps.)
 

…   the flesh in itself is that which reason and sense apprehend concerning it,
yet mixed with the divine it no longer remains in its own limitations  and
properties but is taken up to that which prevails and is transcendent…
 

 
Happy Easter, everyone.  Sorry, but it does last fifty days.  
 
 

Posted by: juliania | Apr 17 2026 15:32 utc | 80

That’s now two excellent questions from Peter in one thread. No more small news day for me.
 
On the right angles in building structures, that may well be a door opening angle into an artistic frame of mind. I recommend to research the architectural history of the cupola, and will add that Persian architecture also incorporates terracing (i.e., different ground levels) into their structures. Note that the main difference between painting and sculpture is that you can walk around it; then compare this to the architect’s task of modelling spaces. 
 
One thing that’s fancy about modern concrete architecture is that the material can be molded into flowing shapes, so long as it remains stable. That style is called brutalism, from French brût, meaning concrete.
 

Posted by: persiflo | Apr 17 2026 15:41 utc | 82

Thanks, juliania, for your post 80

Posted by: persiflo | Apr 17 2026 15:52 utc | 84

Exile nailed it. Triangulation. The corner of the 3 and 4 make 90 degrees. Housing is a basic in life. We generally live in housing with squared corners.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZFot2BUqsk

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 16:03 utc | 86

Frey Bentos | Apr 17 2026 15:56 utc | 85
Undeniably Reasonable | Apr 17 2026 16:08 utc | 87
 
Even troll fact-tories the trolls work in are built with 3,4,5 squared corners. The facts of the Tories. And the ship sails on. The ship of fools.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 16:20 utc | 88

UW, you live in a virtual reality. A place devoid of reality.
 
General, reach for the stars but don’t forget the basics.
 
persiflo, at times seemingly a mix of UW and General but I reckoned you would click pretty quick when it dawned.
 
juliania, I don’t know if your post was triggered by my question and its answer, but those old boys when oral history was first written down and became scriptures, I guess they understood the strengths and the failings of mere mortals.
 

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 16:33 utc | 90

Addendum on mathsy parlance: dynamical systems with an abundance of dimensions means equations here, not real processes. They are not to be confused.

Posted by: persiflo | Apr 17 2026 17:03 utc | 92

Time to crank the monkey I think. What say you orange UW monkey that is greatness in your own mind?
 
Do the three blind monkeys things for a bit juliannia because I am me.
That previous post of yours dude – very similar to those of the orange jesus. There are thinkers and there are tinkerers and there are those renowned in their own mind. Self wanking ice creams so to speak. 
 
I have cranked a few motors. Bloody old cats, give them a snort of petrol down the snorter and they fire pretty quick. Just a capful usually does the trick. You ever fired up an old cat UW? You ever used 3,4 and 5?
Or is all you have done is smoked noxious weeds and seated your arse in a troll Fact Tory.
 
b cleaned up that other thread. One night in a pub when I was young, some clown came up sat down, and began began ragging the weakest looking of our group. a studious young looking nerd. I just sat there looking at him till he looked at me. Let the good times roll.
 
I did warn you dude.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 17:20 utc | 94

Unlike an old Gorgon, Mythos has the misfortune of being a monster without being a myth.
 
as bad as Terminator 3 is, the fiction is still more enjoyable than the reality.
 
the good news, or mixed news, is that Skynet is Made In America. so is its hype.

Posted by: duck n cover | Apr 17 2026 17:31 utc | 96

Geelong refinery:
both China and the AU have had substantial fires related to lithium ion battery facilities recently (don’t worry, in both cases, it was a sub-sub contractor’s fault.)
 
in the last month, the US has had two major gas pipelines fail, one out of the Atlanta GA area, and one out of the Port Arthur-Houston TX area.
 
of course I can’t prove Israel wasn’t involved in Geelong. but if so, who has cemented relations with Israel so that such sabotage could even possible? the AU gov’t. with its 5 eyes wise guys partners, and the EU/NATO alliance.
 
but the desperation for scapegoats is only going to increase, as the failures of capitalism pile up.

Posted by: duck n cover | Apr 17 2026 17:40 utc | 98

duck n cover | Apr 17 2026 17:45 utc | 99
 
RFK j is unaware of nothing. He is an empire man. He made that crystal clear in an interview. Israel’s unsinkable air craft carrier to Persian Gulf oil is the jews in Palestine.That is a carrier that must be sunk with all hands. No survivors.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 17 2026 17:57 utc | 100