Friday, May 12, 2017
The map is not the territory.
Alfred Korzybski
If a foreign government had imposed this system of education on the United States, we would rightfully consider it an act of war.
Glenn T. Seaborg, National Commission on Education, 1983
I really thought that by now I could report full recovery from the lower bronchial infection that has laid me low, but I can’t do that. The vectors are in the right direction. I’m definitely improving. I feel better this morning than I have for weeks, but I’m not recovered.
I suspect one reason for depression is the depressing news flowing steadily out of Washington. Whatever President Trump does, it’s not merely wrong, but wrong-headed, with evil intent, and probably part of a treasonous conspiracy with the Russians to deny the Clintons their due.
And he was to be condemned for not firing Comey when the Democrats wanted him fired, but now Comey was fired as part of the cover-up. But be of good cheer, eventually Mr. Trump, who never does the right thing, will be made to go away and the Clintons will be restored.
Ridiculous as all this sounds, there are serious people holding high office in the media, Hollywood, and Congressional office – as well as holdovers in the Administration – who apparently believe it, or successfully pretend to do so.
And that’s depressing.
1600 Friday: what was supposed to be a quick trip to the hair dresser and barber took all afternoon. The TV alternated between CNN and Fox so I got it all: still depressing, still noise, little information. Adding to that cacophony would serve little purpose or add to reasoned discourse.
I have a good bit of mail, some important and some quite amusing; we’ll add those before midnight, but meanwhile I’ll post this.
9 :45 PM
Cyber attack spreads across 74 countries; some UK hospitals crippled | F…
I apologize to those who get this multiple times.
Bottom line: a virulent ransomware work built on top of hacked National Security Agency hardware is spreading quickly across the Internet. It has shut down hospitals and government offices in England, hit the Interior Ministry in Russia, and affected other targets across Europe and Asia. It is apparently just arriving in the US. The most recent Microsoft updates pushed down this week contain MITIGATIONS, not fixes, I am told.
Cautionary notes:
1. This appears to be real enough that my son called me while I was driving home from work with the warning.
2. I will be taking my main computer offline to do a backup tonight after this, as recommended by my office IT guru.
3. There are several articles “above the fold” about the hack at Drudge Report.com. However, the “headline” article, a link to the ap article, attempted to download some adware or malware to my phone resulting in several reboots. Be cautious about even reputable sites (and not all of Drudge’s links are to reputable sites).
Subj: Cyber attack spreads across 74 countries; some UK hospitals crippled | Fox News
This is a big one. Take precautions.
J
[A trusted competent subscriber]
There is a longer and readable analysis of Comey at http://blog.dilbert.com/post/160515646406/the-comey-firing
Wonder material
Kansas State University researcher Gurpreet Singh has created a liquid polymer that can be heated into a high temperature, low-density ceramic, good to about 2000k, with pre-ceramic properties that range from watery to gel. It seems like one can do a remarkable number of things with it. Printing rocket engines was what came immediately to mind for me. Maybe it’s too good to be true.
https://phys.org/news/2017-03-patents-waterlike-polymer-high-temperature-ceramics.html#nRlv
–Best, Gerald
No other information available to me.
“We don’t just have a skeleton. We have a dinosaur as it would have been.”
<http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery/>
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Roland Dobbins
Let this represent many:
You & Roberta
HI there Jerry & Roberta,
I popped in to check on you both. I hope Roberta continues to improve, and I’m sorry to hear about your circulatory troubles. The heat to your lower extremities is, of course a good idea. However a hot water bottle is not. I suggest you purchase what Bart & I call “hot rocks.” (I hope that gives you a laugh!) It is a cotton or muslin bag filled with a material – sometimes, buckwheat, corn, rice, etc., which is then placed inside another cotton bag. The entire gizmo can be placed in the microwave and heated. The inner materials last for years, and the nice thing is these units provide very long lasting and gentle heat with no worry of water leakage. Many companies make these items. There are even special booties available for purchase. Try a Google search on “Microwaveable Foot Warmers” These products can be found at Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, on Amazon and elsewhere. Here is just one link to a company that uses corn in their products.
https://www.mainewarmers.com/
bye for now, and best wishes,
Adri
I have a lot of mail concerning cold feet. Some suggest using bricks, which certainly hold heat but are less than convenient. Bags of rice will heat in a microwave but present logistics problems. Hot water bottles work fine, but inevitably spring leaks.
HealthSmart Thera Beads from Amazon (available as Prime) heats in three minutes in the microwave, and holds enough heat when inserted between the covers down at the foot of the bed do the job nicely. Recommended.
: Here’s A Hint Of The Meltdown If U.S. Banned Laptops On Europe Flights – Vocativ
It’s nonsense like this that makes me think the next four years will be a continuation of the Bush years. They aren’t interested in winning the war, but they sure are interested in fighting it. Meanwhile the rest of us suffer to support incompetent empire.
R
I can only hope you are wrong. Banning Laptops seems outrageous. I do not detect more than the usual support for continued fighting.
Space Race To Hunt, Mine Asteroids In Next Five Years – MSN News
“Core material” — exactly what the asteroid miners were seeking in THE ROLLING STONES. *Again*, Heinlein was right.
Space Race To Hunt, Mine Asteroids In Next Five Years
Greg Price
Newsweek – Newsweek – Friday, May 12, 2017
The Chinese have plans to hunt, mine and even build a space station on asteroids, but are decades away from most ambitions.
I wrote those stories forty years ago, about the next few years…
Comey redux —
This might be a better take on it.
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/160515646406/the-comey-firing
Richard White
Del Valle, Texas
Royal Marines strapped to Apaches
That reminds me of an incident in the memoir of a Vietnam War Cobra pilot…
When the Cobra’s were first introduced, there was concern about their ability to pick up the crews of another helicopter. With a Huey, it was no problem. But the Cobra only had the 2 seats. So they looked at the door panels on either side that gave access to the gun turret and ammunition. The doors were rated for 300 pounds each, so in a pinch, they could land, and put a crew member of a downed copter on either side, and fly them out.
During one mission, a Special Forces team was pinned down, and needed rescue. They landed the Cobra, and put two soldiers on each of the doors. The guys were yelling something to the pilot, but he assured them that it would be alright, and just to hang on. The control tower at the base had problems understanding that a Cobra was inbound carrying 6 people, but then noted that it was actually 7… The soldiers had been trying to tell the pilot there was one more person — that guy ended up grabbing hold of the skids of the Cobra as it lifted off.
Someone is catching wise to the Iron Law —
http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/overlooked-statistic-may-explain-americas-education-problems
Richard White
Del Valle, Texas
John Oliver is Wrong About Net Neutrality.
<http://blog.erratasec.com/2017/05/john-oliver-is-wrong-about-net.html>
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Roland Dobbins
Most writers are wrong about net neutrality as it has turned out.The regulators mean well, perhaps, but most haven’t a real clue.
Lost Generation: The Relay Computers.
<https://technicshistory.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/lost-generation-the-relay-computers/>
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Roland Dobbins
Long , but amusing and educational.
Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.
