All Activity

The question of whether Chicago “needs” more help from the federal government is more restrictive (a good thing) than the question of whether they “could use” such help. The automatic answer is, every governmental entity everywhere can “use” additional help. How would we determine that Chicago actually needs help? There is an underlying premise, that Chicago needs a local police department (not just “needs police”, they need specifically local police). I find that premise to be sketchy at best, but it is a fact that flows from the peculiar nature of the US system of governing (50 states plus the feds). What is wrong with the rent-a-cop Tannahelp model of rights protection? Very simply, that my cops and your cops will get into a bloody shoot-out over your dog peeing on my car, because we have competing overlapping jurisdictions. So the US system is somewhat restrained, in that state cops only deal with state crimes and federal cops only deal with federal crimes (in theory). In order to invoke federal intervention (which BTW entails federal supremacy), there has to be a federal connection. Thanks to the commerce clause, all Congress has to do is write legislation that includes the expression “affecting interstate of foreign commerce”, and constitutional objections to federal overreach are swept away. There are currently limits on federal intervention, one being that the military cannot be sent to enforce laws. There are baked-in limits on the FBI as well in 28 USC Ch. 33, but the only applicable provision for what is said to be the case in Chicato is 28 USC 540A which relates to violent crimes where the victims were selected because they are not residents of that state. There is no evidence of such intentional targetting. Therefore under extant federal law, regardless of whether Chicago needs help from the FBI, it would be a violation of the law to give it (except, the courts have not deemed that sharing of information is prohibited). Which brings us to the pertinent question of the virtue and vices of our federal model of government.

But Odessa, Nikolaev, etc. would have to demonstrate their majority willingness to secede to Russia - by referenda best conducted this time under official UN overview, when the time comes. 1. There is nothing there about "majority willingness" or "referenda" in the words of the Vice-Speaker of Russia's "Parliament". On the contrary, he uses the verb "вернуть", which means return · restore · bring back · recover · get back · take back something which rightly belongs to Russia. Neither the Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council and former Russia President, Dmitry Medvedev, mentions "majority willingness" or "referenda", he simply states that "[in the future] there will be more new regions attached to Russia." Note the unconditional "will be attached". The previous experience suggest that this will happen by Russian troops first taking control of the Odessa, Nikolaev, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkov regions, and only then organize "referenda". And not the other way around. 2. "referenda best conducted this time under official UN overview" About this - only after finishing with # 1. One subject at a time.

Illinois is the first state in the nation to adopt no cash bail legislation in July of this year I believe. Not being familiar with the extent of the bail system and how this legislation affects it's operation, on the face of it , it seems a mechanism that allows those accused of crimes (even violent crimes?) to be remanded on their own recognizance pending a future court date. Perhaps the nondescript attackers are due in court soon and will be stopped.

Research is still going on: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/research-on-lk-99-continues-paper-says-superconductivity-could-be-possible

Chicago Street Crime of Late The Mayor I don't know what will be effective against these continuing violent violations of individual rights, but I don't think any of the usual remedies proposed by Left or Right are going to be effective. I wonder if Chicago Police needs more help from the FBI.

But Odessa, Nikolaev, etc. would have to demonstrate their majority willingness to secede to Russia - by referenda best conducted this time under official UN overview, when the time comes. Which gives the lie to the fake Narrative that Putin only wanted "a land grab". Who would be so insane to want to forcibly occupy lands and towns filled with your mortal enemy, and a permanent guerilla conflict? (and initially with a hugely-outmanned army?) Raises that age old dilemma: "territorial integrity" v. the people's "self-determination". Created by the vagaries of recent (colonial and other) border lines that cut across traditional territories and tribal lands, leaving some people on each side of borders. No matter, since normally proper nationhood will be the antidote to the dilemma, which means all people, of whichever 'stripe' are equally included in rule of law. Kyiv governments after 2014 messed up their nationhood by their discriminatory treatment of one sector of the nation's people and will have to pay a price. They will lose these lands - and the people. From Russia's p.o.v., the gain of land, it's become most apparent, is greatly secondary to the security of the inhabitants: they have clear memories of what happens and will happen to ethnic, cultural, Russian speakers abandoned to the tender mercies and hatred shown against them by Kyiv and ultra-Nationalist West Ukrainians. The State Duma and Russia's army will not wish to have to return "to liberate" those people all over again, in the near or distant future.

On today's Russian's news aggregator Yandex: "Russia, apart from the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR), should also reclaim its other territories - the Odessa, Nikolaev, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkov regions, believes the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma [Russia "Parliament"], Pyotr Tolstoy." РИА Новости "On September 30th, the anniversary of the reunification of the DNR, LNR, Kherson, and Zaporozhie regions with Russia is celebrated." РИА Новости "According to the results of processing 100% of the ballots in the DNR, 99.23% of the voters expressed their support for joining the Russian Federation, while in the LNR, it was 98.42%, in the Kherson region - 87.05%, and in the Zaporizhzhia region - 93.11%." РИА Новости "The Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council [and former Russia President], Dmitry Medvedev, stated that ' [in the future] there will be more new regions attached to Russia.'" Московский Комсомолец Sources: RIA Novosti, Moskovsky Komsomolets

The trouble with the indoctrinated by Western propaganda, they can't/don't want to see that "the brutal war of aggression by Putin" - which was preceded by a brutal war of aggression by a Nazified Ukraine upon Ukrainian Russians - has been publicly used to be the convenient cover for a brutal war of defensive-aggression against Russia by the West's enthusiastic backing of Ukraine--try to get across to them that the Western powers plainly place very little humanitarian worth in Ukraine's lives (as long as their own list of 'selfish' aims, military, geo-political, economic, ideological, etc., is eventually met), as evidenced by their sabotage of possible negotiations, the urging of further wasteful offensives that the Ukr AF has zero chance to carry through with success, the blatant exposures of politicians stating exactly how and why prolonging this war is a bargain and 'good for us' - and more - yet they still can't see that ('dictatorial') Russia could be more humane by offering safe surrender terms to its opposing soldiers than has been Ukraine to its captured Russians, and much more humanitarian than the (Enlightenment) nations to its own supposed ally, Ukraine; a denial to absorb the, admittedly disturbing, truth: your leaders are anti-life and anti-freedom, altruist warmongers.

As an example of the popularity of this book, when I was in college in the late 1960s it was already part of the required reading for not only my History of Science course, but also the History of Economics and Sociology.

Guess what is the source of Clayton Morris' claim that "Ukrainian forces quitting by the thousands", more precisely that "Approximatively 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered [in the last less than 3 months]"? It is TASS, the state-owned news(?) agency of the Russian Federation (minute 4:24)! No other source is given. Similar news and images can be seen and heard on the Ukrainian state channels, starting with more then a year ago, saying the exactly same thing about massive RUSSIAN surrenders! Why should anyone trust a governmental source of ANY warring party??? Only militants, those interested in broadcasting a specific thesis instead of verified facts. Besides: today (September 29) RIA Novosti reports the above "news" by referring to the above Clayton Morris show, which in fact reproduces TASS ! Thus, RIA Novosti presents this information (?) as stemming from an independent Western source ! This trick was massively used during the Soviet times... but in a somewhat more refined form.

A Friday Hodgepodge Image by the United States Department of Defense, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.Editor's Note: I have long had 'Consider taking Columbus Day off' in my calendar ahead of October, both in homage to my father and as an option for celebrating my birthday, with which it sometimes coincides. Often Most years Practically every year, though, something comes up and causes me to scuttle the plan, so much so that the whole idea has become something of a running joke to me, and I chuckle when it shows up on my calendar. Well, this year is ... different: Between moving preparations and a minor surgical procedure whose recovery is going to lay me out for a couple of days, I find that I am all but compelled to use the entire week before Columbus Day for recovery and catching up -- on anything not involving heavy lifting. (What a time for that!) So: Between a period of enforced, unwanted idleness and having to catch up on a crap-ton of unusual obligations, I'm going to disappear from here for about a week. I expect to return by the eleventh (the Monday after next), but I might need another day or two. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy today's post and, of course, I wish you a happy Columbus Day! *** 1. After we move, we will be using the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway quite a bit. Naturally, I wondered if there might be an easy way to get alerted to traffic problems. There is, thanks to a web page dedicated to the bridge, whose about section drew me like a moth to a flame -- although the fact sheets are more important, especially during the October to March "fog season" on the lake. Missing from my quick scan of all this is the status of the bridge as the longest continuous span over water in the world. 2. Some time back, I learned that coffee lovers in Japan have an option we don't have in America: canned coffee that is warm and actually tastes good:The year was 1969. Tadao Ueshima was at the train station. In the sweltering heat of the Japanese summer he got himself a bottle of cold "coffee milk" (コーヒー牛乳) from the station's convenience store, figuring he had a few minutes till the train left. In those days you would buy your drink, drink it on the spot, and return the bottle. As luck would have it, he mistimed his coffee and his train started to pull out of the station. He hurriedly returned his half-finished bottle and ran to his train. Now, Tadao had somewhat of a reputation as a frugal man. He hated seeing things go to waste. And he couldn't shake off the frustration of the coffee. "If only there was a way I could buy and carry my coffee with me ... " he reasoned. Fate couldn't have chosen a better person for this encounter. Tadao Ueshima was the CEO of UCC Coffee, which sold coffee and tea in bulk to restaurants. He assembled a team at UCC and gave them an impossible mission: to create a coffee he could buy and walk away with.It is fascinating to read about the innovations -- among them: stopping milk separating from coffee in the cans, heated vending machines, heating the coffee without ruining it -- but the story has additional funky bonuses, like Tommy Lee Jones playing an alien in commercials for Coca Cola's brand. 3. In the New Yorker is a fascinating and inspiring story of an engineer who blew the whistle on himself when he realized that the prestigious new skyscraper he had designed could blow over under certain storm conditions:On the island, [William J.] LeMessurier considered his options. Silence was one of them; only Davenport knew the full implications of what he had found, and he would not disclose them on his own. Suicide was another; if LeMessurier drove along the Maine Turnpike at a hundred miles an hour and steered into a bridge abutment, that would be that. But keeping silent required betting other people's lives against the odds, while suicide struck him as a coward's way out and -- although he was passionate about nineteenth-century classical music -- unconvincingly melodramatic. What seized him an instant later was entirely convincing, because it was so unexpected -- an almost giddy sense of power. "I had information that nobody else in the world had," LeMessurier recalls. "I had power in my hands to effect extraordinary events that only I could initiate. I mean, sixteen years to failure -- that was very simple, very clear-cut. I almost said, 'Thank you, dear Lord, for making this problem so sharply defined that there's no choice to make.'"From such a low point, LeMessurier reacts heroically, and the story of how he and the team he assembled prevented catastrophe makes a gripping read. 4. Regulars here will know that I keep an eye out for news in the effort to deal with multiple sclerosis. Not long ago a study offered long-range hope for eradication when it appeared that researchers had found its leading cause. But what about now? And what if those results are wrong, or a practical vaccine can't be developed? There may be hope for treatment in the form of an "inverse vaccine:"The inverse vaccine, described in Nature Biomedical Engineering, takes advantage of how the liver naturally marks molecules from broken-down cells with "do not attack" flags to prevent autoimmune reactions to cells that die by natural processes. PME researchers coupled an antigen -- a molecule being attacked by the immune system -- with a molecule resembling a fragment of an aged cell that the liver would recognize as friend, rather than foe. The team showed how the vaccine could successfully stop the autoimmune reaction associated with a multiple-sclerosis-like disease. "In the past, we showed that we could use this approach to prevent autoimmunity," said Jeffrey Hubbell, the Eugene Bell Professor in Tissue Engineering and lead author of the new paper. "But what is so exciting about this work is that we have shown that we can treat diseases like multiple sclerosis after there is already ongoing inflammation, which is more useful in a real-world context." [link omitted]This is exciting news, and not just for those suffering from MS. -- CAVLink to Original

The get-out-of-Hell option offered to Ukr soldiers by RF High Command, the "Volga" radio frequency. It's been active for some months and apparently gaining traction. Good: those lives count more. When fighting for one's country involves (especially, but not only) force-conscripted men fighting and being killed for high-blown abstractions - Democracy, Western Values, "Enlightenment Values" - and for others' noble feelings, they'd have to query -- "What - 'values'"?

Kuhn's Intellectual Path <– a review by Howard Sankley of this book by K. Brad Wray (My copy of that book of Wray's arrives tomorrow.) Of related interest (which I have already): The Essential Tension by Thomas Kuhn The Road Since Structure edited by Conant and Haugeland Reconsidering Logical Positivism by Michael Friedman The Cambridge Companion to Carnap edited by Friedman and Creath Scientific Revolutions edited by Ian Hacking Interpreting Kuhn edited by Brad Wray The Cognitive Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Anderson, Barker, and Chen

Gravitational Effect on Motion of Anti-Matter Observed

Working memory. Reading cognition. Working memory is limited which can pose some challenges during extensive reading. Ideas drawn from the text and the text's seamless flow can be hindered by lapses in memory, as working memory can only sustain so much information at once. Processing the Information and synthesizing it, requires adequate time to be rendered during its conceptualizing, in working memory. As new input of information is processed in working memory, the information sometimes displaces earlier information held previously in memory. As one progresses through material, it's essential to retain earlier parts of the text in your working memory, to develop a coherent and some what comprehensive understand of context that requires an accurate and most times, holistic understanding. Summarizing the text, or mentally rehearsing dense material can ensure a proper thorough understanding, even while memory lapses can be quite common and sometimes consistent. Other strategies such as note taking and annotating is a sure way to help bridge the gaps in memory. Sometimes it's more effective to summarize the content in your own words. This helps with synthesizing the content and helps you retain and recall information better. Our innate ability to hold information in our working memory, means that cognitive tasks such as reading dense material is a smooth and effortless activity, once working memory is working optimally. Reading strategies complement the information absorption step, and sometimes rehearsing is not always necessary when you have read the same content several or more times. Do not underestimate the iterative approach. By revisiting a text you will most surely always be a more informed as a reader. So in summary, working memory is a valuable asset of the human brain. Reading extensively in time will gradually improve working memory. There are many activities and tasks that will expand your working memories capacity. Reading is at the top of the list. We all possess the ability to to retain information and make sense of long texts, connecting concepts in the text and making sense of intricate narratives and complex material. The reading experience should be a seamless and easy to do activity.

Image by Arthur Rackham, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.As of this morning the poll at Drudge Report shows four double-digit performers in the second Republican debate. Currently, they clock in at Haley (35%), Ramaswamy (20%), DeSantis (19%), and Christie (16%). (Pence, whom I said didn't have a base and called "Trump-limited," finished dead last at 2%.) I called the race after the first (in which Ramaswamy and Haley's numbers were reversed) a sprint for Ramaswamy and a marathon for Haley. One headline characterized the debate as "trading insults," and partisan media, left and right, have hastily written it off as irrelevant, charging that, with Trump leading Biden in the latest polling, that the "electability argument" has evaporated, and that with Trump leading among Republicans that his coronation -- like Hilary Clinton's in 2016? -- is inevitable. Balderdash! I submit that, since Haley polls best against Biden, there might be some wishful thinking behind any leftist outlet proclaiming that Haley can't hang her hat on electability, and double for any Trumpist saying this. Anyone else is likely being lazy or giving up too soon. As for Trump's supposedly insurmountable primary lead, that's rich after the way polling largely missed Trump's win way back in 2016 -- and probably also wishful thinking. Leftists know that Trump is Biden's best bet to get reelected. And Trumpists? The fact that they're frontloading winner-take-all primaries shows that they fear an electorate taking any time to think through its options. Seriously. Where's the fire? If Trump is so ace, why hurry? And why not show up for the debates? If Trump is the Only Man Who Can Save America, what has he to fear from some piker being "unfair" to him at a debate? Continuing with what's actually going on: The first state primary/caucus isn't until January. In the meantime, polling in early states shows that while, yes, majorities give Trump as the answer to the "if the election were held today" question, most of these people aren't political junkies or Trump cultists. More to the point, over three quarters of Republicans are considering someone other than Trump:In both states, most voters are still considering multiple candidates. In fact, just a fifth in Iowa and about a quarter in New Hampshire are considering Trump and nobody else, making his support "floor" a bit lower in these early states than it looks nationwide. Most of Trump's backers are considering at least one other candidate, and these voters are more likely to say they're supporting him "with some reservations" than Trump-and-only-Trump voters are. And in both states, only-Trump voters are outnumbered by the third of the electorate who aren't considering him at all.It's not quite early days, but there is ample time for Haley to continue building momentum and for Trump to make an ass of himself, even without showing up for the debates. I remain cautiously optimistic that Haley can win. -- CAVLink to Original

by autopsy ?

It's still one of the leading causes of death.

Nope, 'all cause' , I think deaths attributed to covid or covid adjacent deaths are in the lower single digit range , maybe 2 percent range. Who is dying 'of covid'?

Could it be because there are still a lot of people dying from covid-19?

So the author thinks the political institutions in the country are functioning on principle and 75 million fellow countrymen(at last 'count') are drooling morons. Much intellectual firepower on display!

Over at Hot Air is speculation about a possible third-party run for the Presidency by RFK, Jr. Naturally, it is difficult to read without being splashed due to the resident Trumpites drooling at the prospect. Early polling indicates that the kooky Kennedy will draw more votes from the Democrats than he will from the Republicans:Image by Maxlovestoswim, via Wikimedia Commons, license.If the Democrats and Republicans nominate Biden and Trump respectively, and Kennedy runs as an independent, 33 percent of Democratic voters would "likely" vote for him according to the poll, including 14 percent who would be "very likely" to back him. Among likely voters as a whole, 25 percent said they would likely vote for Kennedy if he runs against Biden and Trump, including 14 percent of Republicans, with 10 percent saying they are "very likely" to cast their ballots this way.It's early days, and I can see those numbers going either way. RFK, Jr.'s numbers may be as high as they are simply because (a) he has name recognition that is favorable, deservedly or not; and (b) he looks at first like a ready solution to anyone concerned about the age of the next President. Either party could instantly fix that problem by nominating a younger candidate. (I have seen speculation that the Democrats could well throw Biden under the bus at the last minute, much as they did Robert Torricelli ahead of New Jersey's 2002 Senate election.) But if we do end up with Trump-Biden, I can't imagine partisans not panicking and closing ranks behind their respective albatrosses. Democrats viscerally hate Trump, and which Republicans does Kennedy appeal to, anyway? I can think of two sets: (1) anti-vax kooks, who are all basically Trumpists, anyway; and (2) anti-Trump Republicans looking to cast a protest vote, some of whom might have second thoughts. How much of the independent vote he'd get really depends on how off-putting most people find his views on vaccines after those become more well-known to more people. I am afraid to even try guessing an answer to that. The ultimate outcome of a Trump-Biden-Kennedy race is anyone's guess, in my opinion: Trump and Biden are both so awful that almost anyone would look good by comparison: I can imagine Kennedy winning. More interesting to me are the ramifications of two scenarios, only one of which is mentioned (and only in passing at that): how he would affect a race that included a No Labels candidate; and how he would affect a race that included a non-Trump Republican. I think No Labels would effectively eliminate RFK Jr. as a viable candidate because there would then be a young and sane alternative who could win. Indeed, by draining kooks from each of the major parties, RFK Jr. could perhaps improve the chance of No Labels winning. (Earth to No Labels!) What I worry about is his effect on, say, a Biden-Haley race. I could see disgruntled Trumpists/anti-vax Republicans voting for RFK Jr. instead of the Republican, handing the Presidency back to the Democrats, whether Biden or a last-minute substitute is running. As it stands, I am inclined to hope the Democrats placate RFK, Jr. enough in some way that he doesn't do his third-party end-run at all. -- CAVLink to Original

All cause excess death still above the five year average in most western countries , virtually no media stories as to any possible theories on cause/s. Blank out, mass evasion of reality.

Came up earlier, how did the minority of neo-Nazis, ultra-nationalists, and "Right Sector" come to be "the tail that wags the dog" in Ukraine's politics and military? And why did Westerners post-2014 tacitly embrace them, openly or by association, after first condemning Banderists, etc. (ah, yes: Putin, aiming to "de-Nazify" Ukraine, he's "Hitler" ) First I've seen the articulate Glenn Greenwald. 7 mins in https://rumble.com/v3l2rwp-system-update-show1-151.html