Posts Made By: James Brown

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Microsoft and American airlines, to name just a few...
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/551781-major-corporations-business-groups-come-out-against-texas-voting-law
But, just like in Georgia, I'm sure if they'd just read the law, they'd see they're all just mistaken about the whole thing, right?

Hi Rod:

I have not read the TX law - I am curious what James thinks. 

Still, Rod, one must have been born yesterday to not acknowledge that Microsoft and American are simply bowing to social pressure.   The merits of these laws have absolutely nothing to do with the business calculus.  (Specifically whether the laws are objectively reasonable or if they do in fact restrict minority voting.)

The businesses will predict the impact of one political position on their bottom line and proceed accordingly.  In this instance the regular media and social media pressure against these laws in enormous.  Is it justified?  I don't know and to the business it does not matter.  The business's bottom line matters.  It's the American way.  It's what I want the businesses in my portfolio to do.  

Jim

Sometimes a quote or headline comes along that simply leaves me stunned in abject disbelief.  She, who still argues that Trump's active collusion with the Russians cost her the election, simply takes the cake in this regard:

Hillary Clinton: "There has to be a global reckoning with disinformation."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/06/hillary-clinton-guardian-disinformation-big-tech-facebook

Jim

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Hi Jim,

I read the article and didn't see where Hillary said what you claim, but maybe I missed it, or others are inferring it. In fact, I didn't see anything that mentioned her 2016 election loss directly. However, I did see a lot of talk about how big-tech social media drives disinformation, hence divisiveness, and there is no accountability or check on their actions. So it seems to me that disinformation has always played a role in elections. Still, today it's much easier to spread misinformation, and foreign actors can easily do it through social media. And the ability to easily spread misinformation using social media is being used by lots of different actors in different situations worldwide. That seemed to be the overall gist of the article to me.

Anecdotally, just the other day, I was on a rowing machine at the gym and overheard sweet little old ladies on the recumbent bikes talking about politics. They both declared they do not watch any cable or network news anymore and only get their news off Facebook since it's the only source they trust. They then gleefully discussed and bashed Democrats, including bringing up the canard that Joe Biden wants to force Americans to eat less red meat. So it seems to me there is no doubt we have a disinformation problem in this country and a critical-thinking skill problem. Both of these issues will affect election outcomes.

Hi James:

You are right about the gist of the article, the point I was trying to make was broader and an extraction of my own, motivated by the headline and quote.  HRC has blamed Russian collusion for her loss many times, including in her book.  My guess is that she knew the Russian collusion angle was BS from the start and actively participated in fostering this myth.  A myth that resulted in an impeachment and fed directly into Trump's worst retaliatory impulses.  Obviously Trump could have and probably would have self-immolated even without the drumbeat of Russian collusion, but still - that particular lie, along with the more recent "stolen election" BS are possibly the two biggest domestic disinformation campaigns of our lifetimes.

I could be wrong about Ms. Clinton's participation in the Russian collusion myth, but if I am correct, and she materially participated in making and propagating the myth, then Ms. Clinton has no business lecturing the rest of us about the ease of spreading disinformation in the digital age.   

Jim

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

All good points, James. Here's a list of 16 reasons Hillary gave for losing the election, note the number one reason was herself:
https://www.axios.com/16-things-hillary-clinton-blames-for-her-election-loss-1513305545-cf6505a6-76a8-49a0-989a-1be67190d4ed.html
I'd add that your reference to the nonsense about Biden limiting red meat, even though debunked, continues to echo from the Republican leadership, especially McCarthy. This, of course, is only one in a sea of endless lies being propagated by the GOP which then resonates with its base on their social media platforms. There's no shortage of red meat for them...

Speaking of red meat - or maybe the "other white meat"  I slow smoked my first Boston Butt on the Kamado Joe this Friday.  It was spectacular!  

Originally Posted by Greg Shaffer

We also delivered this one earlier this week about 60 miles south of us.....

Dang!  Those are beautiful Greg.  

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Again, there could at least be an Orion 4.25" starblast on the countertop and/or a small apochromatic refractor on an AVX mount on the deck!

And get smoke on the optics!  I don't think so. 

I do have a very cute William Optics 71mm refractor that I bought to use as a filtered white-light scope for the last eclipse.  It has excellent optics and with a zoom lens and Amici prism it makes a great spotting scope.  I used it on a camera tripod  this Friday to keep an eye on the thermometer from inside the house.  No worries there, the temp was very stable throughout the cook, but I'm just getting used to it.  

I gotta tell you Rod, you are missing a lot of good food by sticking to vegetables, although it is no-doubt very healthy.  For Mother's Day I did Cornish game hens (parsley sage rosemary and thyme ).  Yum!   

Jim

Originally Posted by Maurice Clark

Hi James,

Sorry, but I have to side with Rod on this one. I could never consider a dead carcass as "food"! I will stick to vegies thanks.

Liked your S&G reference. I still enjoy their music.

At the risk of mentioning astronomy here (gasp!), now that the semester is over I finally had some time to drag out the scope to image a couple of nice comets the other night. In the process I saw my first chain of StarLink satellites passing over. Was fascinating to watch, All around mag 3.

I well remember back in the late 60's being excited to see a satellite going over and if we managed to photograph one that was cause for celebration! Mostly it was one of the Echo's. These days they are more of a pain ruining our images.

Cheers

Maurice

Hi Maurice:

I saw a long line of StarLink satellites the other day too, right overhead going W to E and spanning at least 30 degrees - at least it seemed like it.  It was impressive, but also kind of disturbing.  Are we a generation or two away from becoming a planet that looks like Coruscant from Star Wars?

"Heavens Above" has a cool animated StarLink map, but the site seems to be down, so I can not post a link. 

I have mixed feelings about the project.  I hope to subscribe to StarLink soon because our rural internet is pretty weak.  I am on the waitlist for equipment.  I do agree that the number of satellites in this constellation is problematic for evening or dawn viewing, but the individual satellites are in really low altitude orbits, so it seems like they would only be illuminated for a relatively short while near dusk and dawn.  You could probably do the math, I can't!!

Part of your post reminds me of an old joke- "If God hadn't intended us to eat meat, why did he make animals so tasty!"

Jim

Originally Posted by James Lacey

A new study has established a link between COIVD aftermath symptoms and erectile dysfunction. 

https://wjmh.org/DOIx.php?id=10.5534/wjmh.210055

Conclusions

Our study is the first to demonstrate the presence of the COVID-19 virus in the penis long after the initial infection in humans. Our results also suggest that widespread endothelial cell dysfunction from COVID-19 infection can contribute to ED. Future studies will evaluate novel molecular mechanisms of how COVID-19 infection leads to ED.

I also read that Ohio set up a lottery to give 5 people a week who got the vaccine a $1Mn randomly to encourage vaccination.

I still have friends and family who refuse to get the vaccine because they think it is unsafe, unnecessary, or inconvenient. I've talked with some of them about it, but of course, their convictions are just as firm and deeply rooted as mine, so I can't change their minds, and I'm smart enough not to risk relationships over a battle I cannot win. But, unfortunately, from the beginning, our public health apparatus and our government completely screwed up the public messaging, and they still are doing little to fix the misinformation problem that will make it harder for us to reach herd immunity faster. So I'm wondering if it's too late or if we can do anything to change the minds of vaccine hesitancy? I have a friend who works in emergency medicine, and she tells me the only people they see with COVID anymore are unvaccinated. What would it take to change minds?

As another aside, see the attached photo from a depression-era cartoon that lampooned anti-smallpox-vaccinators from the time. It always amazes me how things we take for granted today were actually controversial in their time.

Great cartoon James.  I was out of town earlier this week attending a twice re-scheduled wedding ceremony so I was more or less oblivious to the new CDC regs and Biden's speech.  It sounds like they are now casting full vaccination as a "get out of your mask" event.  I wholly support that - they probably should have extolled the personal upside of vaccination earlier in the process.  I might be oversimplifying the message - been busy with work since I got back.  In any case, the trendlines are looking good.

Jim

Originally Posted by Greg Shaffer

Soooo 2024 is coming and the word is Trump and Desantis 2024.....You guys dont have an apoplexy now

I sure hope Trump does not run again, but I can't say it would surprise me.  One thing that I did not see mentioned in this thread so far, is an identification of the group most interested in a Trump run...  It is not the Q-Anon crazies either, Rod.  It is the media.

I think I mentioned that I was in VA for a wedding last week.  One of the days, Thursday I think, I looked at a USA Today slipped under our door.  There were 5 front page stories.  The two at the bottom and the two smallest by square inch were about vaccination progress and the gasoline shortage caused out East by the pipeline hack.  The other three front page stories all involved Trump in one way or another, and all were negative.  No exaggeration.  Trump is oxygen to outfits like USA Today.  I imagine they will do anything to keep the Trump '24 rumors swirling.

James mentioned that the establishment R's did not stop Trump in 2016.  That is true, the R primaries were not stacked by superdelegates like the D primaries in 2016 assuring that the insider candidate got the nod.  But a large assist for Trump's nomination has to go to the press.  They did not turn on Trump until after he won the general election.  Early on they showered him with free attention.  I am not sure if Trump played the press or if they played us.  At least Trump is a know quantity now.

Jim

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

I gotta wonder which MAGA media source Greg is getting his stuff from? Conservative blogs, AON, Newsmax, Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Fox or a combination thereof? 

Probably CNN or USA Today.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/19/donald-trump-again-teases-another-presidential-run-2024/7295093002/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/05/politics/trump-run-for-president-again-2024/index.html


Jim