Man Sets Self on Fire in Front of Trump Courthouse Live on CNN

Oh, my god! Horrible! This is developing news!

"Friday, during a CNN live broadcast reporting on the jury being seated in former President Donald Trump’s trial, a man set himself on fire in front of the Manhattan courtroom.

Anchor Laura Coates said, “We have a man who is literally set fire to himself. A man hasn’t plays into himself outside of the courthouse just now, our cameras are turning right now, a man has now let himself on fire. ..."

Watch: Man Sets Self on Fire in Front of Trump Courthouse Live on CNN

Testament und Nachlass: So geht erben schneller. So verhindert man lange Wartezeiten beim Erbe. Wirklich!

Schöner Witz, wenn auch nachlässig! Schmunzel! 😊

Testament und Nachlass: So geht erben schneller

Mit der Schreibmaschine? (Original Begleitfoto des Artikels)

Clan-Aussteigerin berichtet über Zwangsehe und Gewalt in der Großfamilie: Latife Arab im Interview

Ziemlich übel! Andere Länder, andere Sitten, aber sowas! Mich wundert es, dass die Frau nicht ausgewandert ist für Ihre Sicherheit.

"Sie wurde in eine arabische Großfamilie hinein­geboren, die in ganz Deutschland bekannt ist, wurde von den eigenen Eltern misshandelt und als Jugendliche zwangsverheiratet. Nach mehreren Fluchtversuchen schafft sie es endgültig, mit ihrer Familie zu brechen. Heute führt sie mit ihren Kindern und ihrem deutschen Lebens­partner ein anonymes Leben in der Nähe von Berlin. Unter dem Pseudonym Latife Arab hat sie ihre Leidensgeschichte und ihren Weg in die Freiheit in einem Buch niedergeschrieben. ..."

Clan-Aussteigerin berichtet über Zwangsehe: Latife Arab im Interview (leider hinter paywall) „Ich kenne keine Frau, die es lebend rausgeschafft hat“ Latife Arab war lange Teil einer Familie, die bekannt ist für schwere Straftaten. Sie spricht darüber, wie sie gequält und zwangsverheiratet wurde, wie Kriminalität zum Alltag wurde – und wie sie dem gewalttätigen Familiensystem entkam.

Amid an Israeli strike, a look at the Iranian city of Isfahan's Jewish community

Always keep in mind: The world and history is complicated!

"Isfahan, located on the route from Tehran to the Persian Gulf, hosts one of Persia's oldest Jewish communities, dating back to various early historical periods as reported by Pehlevi, Armenian, and Muslim sources. ...

there are currently some 1,500 Iranian Jews. The city hosts one central synagogue along with 13 smaller ones. 

According to Jewish Virtual Library, first documented during the reign of Sassanid ruler Frūz in 472 C.E., the city's Jewish community faced persecution, including the execution of half its population. Under Arab rule from 641, the community was notably vibrant, with Isfahan's Jewish quarter, Jayy, becoming so significant that it was called "the city of the Jews." Isfahan was also the birthplace of a Jewish sectarian movement led by Abu 'Isā during the Umayyad era. ..."

Amid an Israeli strike, a look at Isfahan's Jewish community - The Jerusalem Post Amid an alleged Israeli strike, as reported by various news outlets, in Isfahan, there are currently some 1,500 Iranian Jews. The city hosts one central synagogue along with 13 smaller ones. 

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar’s (D, age 41) amazing taxpayer subsidized rags-to-riches story

Recommendable! Some would say she is living the American Dream!

"... More precisely, her eldest daughter was in the news for getting suspended from Barnard College as the result of an anti-Israel protest ...

Barnard College is a women’s school associated with New York City’s Columbia University and also located on Manhattan Island. Befitting its prestige and its prime location, it is one of the most expensive colleges in America. ...

Less than six years ago, both Omars were living in taxpayer-subsidized housing in Minneapolis, along with the rest of their family. ..."

Ilhan Omar’s amazing rags-to-riches story

Insects and Other Animals Have Consciousness, Experts Declare or The Emerging Science of Animal Consciousness

Amazing stuff! May I postulate that plants have consciousness too (maybe different from humans)? 😊

"... The new declaration, signed by biologists and philosophers, formally embraces that view. It reads, in part: “The empirical evidence indicates at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including all reptiles, amphibians and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans and insects).” Inspired by recent research findings that describe complex cognitive behaviors in these and other animals, the document represents a new consensus and suggests that researchers may have overestimated the degree of neural complexity required for consciousness. ..."

Insects and Other Animals Have Consciousness, Experts Declare | Quanta Magazine A group of prominent biologists and philosophers announced a new consensus: There’s “a realistic possibility” that insects, octopuses, crustaceans, fish and other overlooked animals experience consciousness.

The Emerging Science of Animal Consciousness

The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness

«Die Juden haben mehr Respekt für Hunde als für uns»: Israels Beduinen sind den Raketen schutzlos ausgeliefert. Wirklich!

Was ist das für ein hetzender, antisemitischer Artikel aus der Schweiz! Das ist ziemlich schäbiger Journalismus!

Israel: Nach Irans Angriff sind die Beduinen wütend auf den Staat Beim iranischen Angriff auf Israel gab es nur ein schwer verletztes Opfer: ein siebenjähriges Beduinenmädchen. Ein Besuch bei den Angehörigen, die voller Wut auf die Regierung sind.

Polish President Andrzej Duda meets privately with Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York City

Very recommendable! This was possibly a very important meeting! The very special and long relationship between the U.S. and Poland was renewed! Memories of President Reagan, the Polish Pope John Paul II and the leaders of Solidarność come to mind. Then there were e.g. Tadeusz Kościuszko and Casimir Pulaski (invited to come to America by none other than Benjamin Franklin) heroes of the American Revolutionary War!

Take a ride inside Ehang’s fully autonomous, two-seater air taxi in Guangzhou, China

Very recommendable! I am ready for take off! Will the next Henry Ford be a Chinese? "The aircraft will cost $410,000 overseas"

Woman hauls corpse into Brazil bank in bid to get a loan

What a story! Incredible! Nice try! Women can be very clever committing a crime!

AI and robotics demystify the workings of a fly's wing

Very recommendable! Amazing stuff! When will humans be able to fly like insects?

Firms Selling Brain Wave Data Face Setback in US State of Colorado with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable! This seems to be a very hot topic: The sale of all kinds of personal data collected by the sensors from your many devices or cars etc..

How thousands of gold bars were stolen from an airport facility in Canada with Molly Gambhir

Recommendable! It is reported that some of the suspected criminals involved had Indian background.

Why Is The World Rushing Back To The Moon? with Matt O'Dowd

Very recommendable!

Can the United States Afford to Pay its Loans? with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable! A very serious matter! The federal government is living beyond its means! Debt to GDP ratio is over 120%! Annual interest payment on debt are now $870 billion. This is what is driving U.S. price inflation!

California Elk Grove police secure $2.1 million for Drones as First Responder

Good news!

Perhaps, no more dangerous highway police car chases and many more advantages?

"... "11% of our (2022) patrol calls could have been handled by a Drone as a First Responder Program," Elk Grove Police Lieutenant Nate Lange said at a recent city council meeting. "In 10 seconds, our drone can be up in the air; it flies at approximately 50 miles an hour. At the radius of our city, we should be able to be at any call within three minutes." ..."

Elk Grove police secure $2.1 million for Drone as First Responder | abc10.com Elk Grove city officials recently approved a $2.1 million drone purchase for police, which can be used to check the validity of emergency calls.

US greenlights Rafah operation if Israel refrains from Iran strike. Really!

What kind of a silly deal is this if confirmed! Could be the brain child of the moron Blinken and/or the demented, senile, and corrupt 46th President!

I feel so sorry for Netanyahu!

US greenlights Rafah op. if Israel refrains from Iran strike - The Jerusalem Post Israel allegedly obtained approval for an operation in Rafah as long as it doesn't strike Iran, according to Qatari reports.

Russian hackers Deploy New 'Kapeka' Backdoor in Eastern European Attacks

Bad news! How close is the enemy (or the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible)

"A previously undocumented "flexible" backdoor called Kapeka has been "sporadically" observed in cyber attacks targeting Eastern Europe, including Estonia and Ukraine, since at least mid-2022.

The findings come from Finnish cybersecurity firm WithSecure, which attributed the malware to the Russia-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group tracked as Sandworm (aka APT44 or Seashell Blizzard). Microsoft is tracking the same malware under the name KnuckleTouch. ...

"

Russian APT Deploys New 'Kapeka' Backdoor in Eastern European Attacks

Mpox and monkey pox or NIPS and NeurIPS

Just two examples! When ideological language hygienists are at work or political correctness has become absurd! 

These two examples are also reflecting how moronic intellectuals and the elite can be!

I blogged here about NIPS and NeurIPS before

Boston Mayor Wu appoints city's first chief climate officer at $195,000 a year. Really!

What a waste of taxpayers money on the greatest scam of our time!

"Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appointed the city’s first chief climate officer on Wednesday, a position that essentially replaces the outgoing chief of environment, energy and open space with a $27,693 increase in salary. ..."

Boston Mayor Wu appoints city's first chief climate officer at $195,000 a year 

Chart of the day

Largest research budgets by company in billions of Euros (Source)

Ukraine Is the First major drone warfare battle field

Very recommendable! Good overview article!

Drones have already shown and proven that they can render expensive tanks and navy ships as useless as knight's armor!

Caveat: I skimmed the whole long article.

Ukraine Is the First “Hackers’ War” - IEEE Spectrum For clues to the future of warfare, study the struggle between FPV drones and electronic warfare

15 Graphs That Explain the State of AI in 2024 The AI Index tracks the generative AI boom, model costs, and responsible AI use

Very recommendable! Nice collection of charts!

15 Graphs That Explain the State of AI in 2024 The AI Index tracks the generative AI boom, model costs, and responsible AI use

The Tiny Ultrabright Laser that Can Melt Steel

Amazing stuff! This is a very wordy, verbose article! It seems to be a long overview article written by some of the researchers in this area, but it does not seem to present very new, latest research (most recent research discussed dates to June 2023 if I am correct). It contains quite a few interesting charts.

Caveat: I did not have the time to read it all!

"... Over the past couple of decades, our team at Kyoto University has been developing a new type of semiconductor laser that blows through the brightness ceiling of its conventional cousins. We call it the photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser, or PCSEL (pronounced “pick-cell”). Most recently, we fabricated a PCSEL that can be as bright as gas and fiber lasers—bright enough to quickly slice through steel—and proposed a design for one that is 10 to 100 times as bright. Such devices could revolutionize the manufacturing and automotive industries.  ... can push PCSEL brightness further still, it would even open the door to exotic applications like inertial-confinement nuclear fusion and light propulsion for spaceflight. ..."

The Tiny Ultrabright Laser that Can Melt Steel - IEEE Spectrum Photonic crystals are the key to the brightest semiconductor laser ever

Royal Society of Chemistry: Oil and gas industry emissions are not on track to hit climate goals. Really!

Again, the Royal Society of Chemistry promotes socialism and communist central planning in the name of the greatest scam of our time: Global Warming hoax/Climate Change religion! Disgusting and appalling!

"... Almost a decade on from the Paris agreement, made by governments around the world to restrain global warming, the world’s largest oil and gas companies have still not aligned to its goal. ..."

Oil and gas industry emissions are not on track to hit climate goals | Business | Chemistry World Several big firms have rolled back their targets, saying governments need to set pace with policy

Cities with Black women police chiefs had less street violence during 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests

Headline of the day! What kind of (racist) argument is this! What nonsense or junk science or ideological baloney is this!

Notice also the stark difference in the title of this article and the research paper by the same authors!

Notice also the two authors have the same, rather rare last name. I did not investigate the reason for that.

"Black Lives Matter protests in cities with Black women police chiefs experienced significantly lower levels of violence – from both police and protesters – than cities with police chiefs of other racial backgrounds and gender, according to our newly published paper. ...

Our research included analyzing 11,540 protests that occurred between May 25 and Aug. 29, 2020, in 3,338 cities, spanning 1,481 counties and all 50 states. To ensure robustness and eliminate bias, we measured violence based on an independent categorization of violence, protest event descriptions, numbers of arrests and severity of the charges. We also researched the gender and racial background of the local police chief.

Our analysis, published in the Journal of Management, found that protests in cities with police departments led by Black women tended to be relatively peaceful. ...
Consider, for instance, Black female Chief Catrina Thompson in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who chose dialogue over force. She conveyed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter cause and affirmed that peaceful protests could spur change without destroying the city."

From the abstract:

"Widespread social unrest occurred in the United States in the Summer of 2020. Citizens took to the streets to challenge the prevailing social justice framework [???]. According to event systems theory, these Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests were high-strength [???], as they represented novel, critical, and disruptive events. They were also mega-threats [???] as they focused on threats to the social identities of the marginalized communities [???]. Because different approaches were taken in navigating the BLM protests by authorities, it was unclear what constitutes effective leadership during these events. We integrate insights from event-oriented literature with intersectionality of gender and race research to introduce an intersectional leadership advantage (ILA). This framework suggests that Black women, owing in part to the rich tapestry of their social experiences, tend to develop a distinct leadership style characterized by sensitivity to racial injustice, leaning into risk, and commitment to the community. These qualities enable Black women leaders to be effective during events like BLM protests. Utilizing data from six public sources covering 11,540 protests across 3,338 U.S. cities from May to August 2020, we hypothesized an interaction of city police chiefs’ gender and race in relation to protest-related violence (measured in three ways). Results revealed that protests in cities with Black women police chiefs were associated with the lowest levels of violence compared to other groups. This study provides insights into qualities associated with leadership effectiveness in high-strength mega-threat events, and it connects diversity in leadership roles to favorable outcomes."

Cities with Black women police chiefs had less street violence during 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests

A Summer of Protest: Using Event System Theory To Test an Intersectional Leadership Advantage (open access)

3 things to learn about patience − and impatience − from al-Ghazali, a medieval Islamic scholar from Iran

Recommendable! Food for thought! Some of it sounds a bit old fashioned.

Unfortunately, at the end of her article the author also mentions phony racism claims in support of impatience. Oh well, a nod to fashionable Black Lives Matter ideology etc.!

3 things to learn about patience − and impatience − from al-Ghazali, a medieval Islamic scholar

Understanding the 3D Cell Culture Revolution

Recommendable! Seems to be a nice, brief overview article!

Caveat: I only skimmed this article.

Understanding the 3D Cell Culture Revolution | The Scientist Magazine® 3D cell culture techniques closely mimic in vivo conditions, generating more accurate data for disease modeling and drug toxicity testing.

3D Cell Culture Model Types

3D cell culture types include scaffold-free spheroids, scaffold-based organoids, and microfluidic-based organ on a chip devices. These are useful in disease research applications, such as studying the brain tumor microenvironment, modeling inflammatory conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and investigating drug toxicity in vitro.

Intel's Hala Point, the world's largest neuromorphic computer, has 1.15 billion neurons

Good news! What a marvel!

"Three years after introducing its second-generation "neuromorphic" computer chip, Intel on Wednesday announced the company has assembled 1,152 of the parts into a single, parallel-processing system called Hala Point, in partnership with the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories.

The Hala Point system's 1,152 Loihi 2 chips enable a total of 1.15 billion artificial neurons, Intel said, "and 128 billion synapses distributed over 140,544 neuromorphic processing cores." That is an increase from the previous Intel multi-chip Loihi system, debuted in 2020, called Pohoiki Springs, which used just 768 Loihi 1 chips.

Sandia Labs intends to use the system for what it calls "brain-scale computing research," to solve problems in areas of device physics, computer architecture, computer science, and informatics. ...
Neuromorphic computing is an umbrella term given to a variety of efforts to build computation that resembles some aspect of the way the brain is formed. The term goes back to early 1980s work by legendary computing pioneer Carver Mead, who was interested in how the increasingly dense collections of transistors on a chip could best communicate. Mead's insight was that the wires between transistors would have to achieve some of the efficiency of the brain's neural wiring. ..."

"... About Hala Point: Loihi 2 neuromorphic processors, which form the basis for Hala Point, apply brain-inspired computing principles, such as asynchronous, event-based spiking neural networks (SNNs), integrated memory and computing, and sparse and continuously changing connections to achieve orders-of-magnitude gains in energy consumption and performance. Neurons communicate directly with one another rather than communicating through memory, reducing overall power consumption. ...
Hala Point integrates processing, memory, and communication channels in a massively parallelized fabric, providing a total of 16 petabytes per second (PB/s) of memory bandwidth, 3.5 PB/s of inter-core communication bandwidth, and 5 terabytes per second (TB/s) of inter-chip communication bandwidth. The system can process over 380 trillion 8-bit synapses and over 240 trillion neuron operations per second. ..."

Intel's Hala Point, the world's largest neuromorphic computer, has 1.15 billion neurons | ZDNET The Hala Point machine brings compute efficiency that rivals GPUs and CPUs on some tasks, Intel said.

Intel Builds World’s Largest Neuromorphic System to Enable More Sustainable AI Hala Point, the industry’s first 1.15 billion neuron neuromorphic system, builds a path toward more efficient and scalable AI.

A human brain is still much smaller and can do more and much more energy efficient! 😊

English for trippers: Garb is not garbage

What a barb! Garb is stored in the garage.

Why the Democratic Party should be renamed Dimocratic Party

 Here is a short list:

1. The party exemplifies the worst of gerontocracy
2. Recent voting behavior in the U.S. Congress indicates that the Dimocratic party votes more and more en bloc like a communist party irrespective of the underlying issue! Very disturbing!
3. A lifelong pathological and serial liar and a senile, demented,  and corrupt man his clan became the 46th President. He has steadfastly refused to resign for health reasons. How reckless and irresponsible. A global catastrophy!
4. The former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (age over 80) has become  more and more nutty and erratic over the years. E.g. she gets on her knees with phony African looking garb.
5. The Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer (age 73), has become so senile that he could be compared to the 46th President. Some of his public outbursts were way beyond pale (like threatening violence to a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court during a public speaking event) and he was never admonished for that.
6. The new Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries (age  55) is young by comparison, but he is just a First! What are his merits or his accomplishments so far? We are still waiting to find out.

Footnote: If Trump is elected for a second term, he will be 81 by the end of it. We will see how that turns out if he is elected.

Chart of the day

The daily propaganda and demagoguery about the greatest scam of our time! Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Google fires 28 employees after sit-in protest over controversial Project Nimbus contract with Israel

Good news! Political protest against your employer while at work and not before/after and outside of work? What were these protester employees thinking? That they enjoy special privileges?

"Google has terminated the employment of 28 staff following a prolonged sit-in protest at the company’s Sunnyvale and New York offices.

The employees were protesting against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract inked by Google and Amazon with the Israeli government and its military three years ago. The controversial project, which reportedly also provides Israel with the full suite of Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, allegedly has strict contractual stipulations that prevent Google and Amazon from bowing to boycott pressure. This effectively means that they must continue providing services to Israel no matter what. ..."

Google fires 28 employees after sit-in protest over controversial Project Nimbus contract with Israel | TechCrunch Googlers in Sunnyvale entered Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian's office

Google fires 28 anti-Israel employees who occupied offices in protest The protesters were arrested and put on administrative after refusing to leave Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s Sunnyvale office or the New York City Chelsea workspace.

Zwei Mutmassliche russische Spione in Deutschland verhaftet: Die Männer wollten offenbar die umfangreiche deutsche Militärhilfe für die Ukraine sabotieren

Putin der Schreckliche am Werk in der Bananenrepublik D.!

"Das deutsche Bundeskriminalamt hat in Bayreuth zwei mutmassliche Agenten mit Verbindungen zu Russland verhaften lassen. Die beiden deutsch-russischen Staatsangehörigen seien dringend verdächtig, in einem besonders schweren Fall für einen ausländischen Geheimdienst tätig gewesen zu sein, teilte die Bundesanwaltschaft mit. Der Zugriff im Bundesland Bayern erfolgte am Mittwoch, die Öffentlichkeit wurde erst am Donnerstag informiert. Die deutsche Aussenministerin Annalena Baerbock hat als Reaktion auf die Verhaftungen den russischen Botschafter einbestellt. ...
Bundesanwaltschaft wirft S. nicht nur geheimdienstliche Agententätigkeit vor, sondern auch die Mitgliedschaft in einer ausländischen terroristischen Vereinigung. Damit ist die Einheit der «Volksrepublik Donezk» gemeint, in der S. gekämpft haben soll. ..."

Polizei verhaftet in Bayern zwei mutmassliche russische Spione Die Beschuldigten sollen im Auftrag Moskaus Stützpunkte in Deutschland ausgespäht und Sabotage geplant haben. Außenministerin Baerbock bestellt den russischen Botschafter ein.

Why Ukrainian and Israeli airspace can't be defended the same way by allies

Recommendable! So e.g. NATO member Turkey is blocking allied navy ships from entering the Black Sea to defend Ukraine's airspace? What?

What are virtual particles? And quantum field theory

Very recommendable!

BBC research reveals 50,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine

How many more thousands of young Russian men have to die or be maimed in this euphemistically called "special military operation" before the lethargic, Slavic, slavish Russian people get rid of the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible!

The meat grinder/cannon fodder thanks to Putin the Terrible!

‘You are my son and I will always pray for you’: Stabbed Sydney bishop forgives attacker

Food for thought! Freedom of religion! A great example of magnanimity and the power of love. Supposedly, Australia has some of the toughest gun and knife laws in the world.

Secret Chinese "Security Pact" to Influence Solomon Islands Election? with Palki Sharma

Recommendable! 

Clashes in the Republic of Georgia as it Presses Forward with Controversial Law with Palki Sharma

Recommendable!

Indian Couple Gives Away $23 Million to Become Jain Monks. Why? with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable! Food for thought! Freedom of religion! Would you give up all your worldly possessions?

"The three main pillars of Jainism are ahiṃsā (non-violence), anekāntavāda (non-absolutism), and aparigraha (asceticism).
Jain monks take five main vows: ahiṃsā (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness)." (Source)

The official symbol of Jainism. Yes it is a Swastika!

Vietnam's Biggest Ever Scam Cripples major Bank, Government Secretly Rescues it with Palki Sharma

Recommendable!

How China’s $100B+ Shipbuilding Empire Dominates the U.S.’s and the world

Very recommendable! Unfortunately, the emergence of drones (air & maritime) were not mentioned at all!

In an unanimous vote Democrats Shut Down Senate Trial for Mayorkas Impeachment Charges

Bad news! Not one Democratic Senator voted for or abstained!

The Dimocratic Party in action! It is a fair question to ask whether the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, age 73) is equally or even more cognitively challenged in recent years than the 46th President!

Democrats Shut Down Senate Trial for Mayorkas Impeachment Charges

Under which stone did they find this moron!

Breaking A Seven-Decade Taboo in U.S.-China relations: The Deployment Of US Special Forces To Kinmen island in the Taiwan Strait 6 miles off the coast of China

I am not sure whether this obvious provocation was worth it! Or is this even dangerous adventurism by the senile, demented, and corrupt 46th President?

"The recent report, and subsequent confirmation by Taiwan authorities, of U.S. Special Forces’ deployment to Kinmen (Quemoy), a tiny island held by Taiwan, marks a monumental shift in U.S. military and foreign policy that challenges doctrines held since the Truman Administration. This move not only signifies an important geopolitical pivot, but also breaks a long-standing taboo that has implications for regional stability and U.S.–China relations.

Since the 1950s, U.S. policy has deliberately excluded Taiwan’s offshore islands, particularly Kinmen and Matsu, from its defense commitments under the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty (1955–80) and the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. These islands, due to their proximity to mainland China—just a few miles off the coast—were considered indefensible in a strategic sense and too sensitive geopolitically.

The rationale was grounded in three main considerations.

First is these islands’ proximity to mainland China. Kinmen is only about six miles from Xiamen, China, making it geographically vulnerable to Chinese military action.

Second, these islands carry geopolitical sensitivity. Defending these islands could escalate tensions unnecessarily and drag the U.S. into direct conflict with China, contrary to the longstanding U.S. objective of maintaining peace and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

Third, the military logistics of defending these islands were deemed unfeasible and not in the strategic interest of the United States, given their location beyond the median line of the Taiwan Strait where the capital warships of the U.S. 7th Fleet routinely patrolled. ..."

Breaking A Seven-Decade Taboo: The Deployment Of US Special Forces To Kinmen | Hoover Institution Breaking A Seven-Decade Taboo: The Deployment Of US Special Forces To Kinmen The recent report, and subsequent confirmation by Taiwan authorities, of U.S. Special Forces’ deployment to Kinmen (Quemoy), a tiny island held by Taiwan, marks a monumental shift in U.S. military and foreign policy that challenges doctrines held since the Truman Administration. This move not only signifies an important geopolitical pivot, but also breaks a long-standing taboo that has implications for regional stability and U.S.–China relations.

The island is on the map close to Xiamen

Green rules, red tape: What American farmers can learn from EU protests

This is pure socialism and communist central planning in the name of the greatest scam of our time, i.e. the Global Warming hoax and Climate Change religion!

These are bizarre and absurd policies! Such extreme folly!

Where are the animal rights activists when you need them!

"The European Union (EU) has been implementing various measures to fundamentally transform the agricultural sector, notably through initiatives such as the European Green Deal that aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Part of the European Green Deal is the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy.

The EU describes their Farm to Fork Strategy as being, “at the heart of the Green Deal…a new comprehensive approach to how Europeans value food sustainability.” These policies have faced challenges and criticisms, particularly from farmers.

One of the contentious effects of these agricultural policies is asking farmers to cull herds and sell their farms to meet environmental regulations. For example, the European Commission in 2023 approved two Dutch plans worth a combined 1.47 billion euros ($1.61 billion) to buy out livestock farmers in order to reduce nitrogen pollution.

This policy and other “green” initiatives have led to significant pushback from European farmers, who have engaged in protests against the European Union.

In France, farmers drove through the heart of Paris to protest an EU pesticide ban that affects one of France’s main crops, the sugar beet. In Ireland, similar protests have been held throughout the small country, which is a major producer of dairy products. Ireland’s Department of Agriculture has proposed culling 200,000 cows to meet the EU’s climate objectives. ..."

Green rules, red tape: What American farmers can learn from EU protests - Competitive Enterprise Institute

English for trippers: Early, ear, heart, earth. Eerily similar!

Is this list not peculiar and earning your respect!

Reagan’s great America shining on a hill twisted into Trump’s dark vision of Christian nationalism. Really!

Headline of the day! Twisted and Trump deranged written by a professor (age 72) at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism! Some professors are weirdos!

White supremacy propaganda and demagoguery!

"... While Reagan and Trump – two of the most media-savvy Republican presidents – used religion to advance their political visions, their messages and missions are starkly different. ...
I would argue that Trump’s religious vision is rooted in white Christian nationalism, the belief that the white Christians who founded America hoped to spread Protestant beliefs and ideals. According to white Christian nationalists, the founders also wanted to limit the influence of non-Christian immigrants and enslaved Africans. ..."

Reagan’s great America shining on a hill twisted into Trump’s dark vision of Christian nationalism

The professor

Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus is able to support life − my research team is working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells there

Good news! We are not alone! Perhaps, other forms of life are closer than we thought!

"Saturn has 146 confirmed moons – more than any other planet in the solar system – but one called Enceladus stands out. It appears to have the ingredients for life.

From 2004 to 2017, Cassini – a joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency – investigated Saturn, its rings and moons. Cassini delivered spectacular findings. Enceladus, only 313 miles (504 kilometers) in diameter, harbors a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust that spans the entire moon.

Geysers at the moon’s south pole shoot gas and ice grains formed from the ocean water into space. ..."

Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus is able to support life − my research team is working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells there

The interior of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Surface: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute; interior: LPG-CNRS/U. Nantes/U. Angers. Graphic composition: ESA

Removing PFAS from public water will cost billions and take time – here are ways to filter out some harmful ‘forever chemicals’ at home. Really!

Plastophobia is a serious medical condition! Please seek medical assistance immediately! This piece is written by an associate professor (I suspect associated with Plastophobia)!

So called "forever" chemicals is simply propaganda and demagoguery! Alarmism and hysteria! As if "forever" means dangerous!

PFAS have been around for many decades! If they were so dangerous, we would be all dead now!

"Chemists invented PFAS in the 1930s to make life easier: Nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, grease-resistant food packaging and stain-resistant carpet were all made possible by PFAS. But in recent years, the growing number of health risks found to be connected to these chemicals has become increasingly alarming.

PFAS – perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are now either suspected or known to contribute to thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, liver damage and cancer, among other health issues. ..."

Removing PFAS from public water will cost billions and take time – here are ways to filter out some harmful ‘forever chemicals’ at home

4D printed shape-shifting biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications

I think, I personally prefer 5D printing! (just kidding). 3D printing just started to become mainstream.

From the abstract:

"The existing 3D printing methods exhibit certain fabrication-dependent limitations for printing curved constructs that are relevant for many tissues. Four-dimensional (4D) printing is an emerging technology that is expected to revolutionize the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). 4D printing is based on 3D printing, featuring the introduction of time as the fourth dimension, in which there is a transition from a 3D printed scaffold to a new, distinct, and stable state, upon the application of one or more stimuli. Here, we present an overview of the current developments of the 4D printing technology for TERM, with a focus on approaches to achieve temporal changes of the shape of the printed constructs that would enable biofabrication of highly complex structures. To this aim, the printing methods, types of stimuli, shape-shifting mechanisms, and cell-incorporation strategies are critically reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges of this very recent biofabrication technology as well as the future research directions are discussed. Our findings show that the most common printing methods so far are stereolithography (SLA) and extrusion bioprinting, followed by fused deposition modelling, while the shape-shifting mechanisms used for TERM applications are shape-memory and differential swelling for 4D printing and 4D bioprinting, respectively. For shape-memory mechanism, there is a high prevalence of synthetic materials, such as polylactic acid (PLA), poly(glycerol dodecanoate) acrylate (PGDA), or polyurethanes. On the other hand, different acrylate combinations of alginate, hyaluronan, or gelatin have been used for differential swelling-based 4D transformations. TERM applications include bone, vascular, and cardiac tissues as the main target of the 4D (bio)printing technology. The field has great potential for further development by considering the combination of multiple stimuli, the use of a wider range of 4D techniques, and the implementation of computational-assisted strategies."

4D printed shape-shifting biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications - IOPscience (open access)

Figure 2. 3D fabrication methods used in 4D (bio)printing and their presence in TERM applications.

Ukrainian Surgeons Perform Successful Brain Surgery in the Ukraine on 4-year-old Northern Irish Child with rare form of epilepsy

Good news! How to make friends! How to set an example! What a story! What a great effort!

"Rachel Gribben, a four-year-old girl from the village of Killyleagh in Northern Ireland who suffered from a rare form of epilepsy, successfully underwent a complex brain surgery procedure carried out by a team of neurosurgeons in Lviv, western Ukraine. ...

“When we were sitting in the shelter of the hospital with other mothers and children, my heart just broke,” the child’s mother Katie recalled her experience hearing the first air siren after arriving in Lviv, where her child was to undergo brain surgery in a country at war.

According to The First Medical Association of Lviv, the child’s family decided to bring Rachel to the Children’s Hospital of St. Nicholas under the association for treatment following advice from US neurosurgeon Luke Tomycz, becoming the first foreign patient of the establishment. ..."

Ukrainian Surgeons Perform Successful Brain Surgery on 4-year-old Northern Irish Child The girl suffered from a rare form of epilepsy and UK doctors were reportedly unwilling to perform the complex surgery, eventually leading the family to seek help from a team of specialists in Lviv.

Ukrainian Drones Destroy Radio Communication Center 680 km Inside Russia

Good news! When will the lethargic, Slavic, slavish Russian people finally get rid of the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible, the last czar of Russia.

Ukraine, please continue to hit Russian oil refineries and the like!

Ukrainian Drones Destroy Radio Communication Center 680 km Inside Russia Kyiv Post sources confirmed the attack on the 590th separate radio technical unit of the military unit 84680, located in Kovylkino, Mordovia, Russia.

We are still waiting for the Rafah offensive by the Israel Defense Forces

Ramadan is long over! What is Israel waiting for? Is the IDF loosing critical momentum!

Please get it done with and let's move on to what comes next for Gaza Strip!

Plastic Degradation Company, Breaking, Emerges from Stealth with Naturally-Derived Solution to Degrade Multiple Plastics with $10.5M in Seed Funding

Good news! Human ingenuity will eventually handle the recycling of plastic (whether so called and demonized forever PFAS or not)!

From research to application!

Plastophobia has been affecting so many intellectuals and elites for decades! Please see a doctor immediately as plastophobia is a serious health condition!

"Breaking, a plastic degradation and synthetic biology company, gestated at Colossal Biosciences based on a core discovery out of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, launches today with the announcement of their discovery, X-32, which they will develop to address the global plastics crisis. In its natural state, X-32 can degrade polyolefins, polyesters, and polyamides leaving behind carbon dioxide, water, and biomass in as little as 22 months. With future synthetic genetic edits, the team is focused on making X-32 faster, more efficient, and more effective with a harmless environmental impact. ..."

Plastic Degradation Company, Breaking, Emerges from Stealth with Naturally-Derived Solution to Degrade Multiple Plastics with $10.5M in Seed Funding | Business Wire

Plastivores: Plastic-Degrading Super-Microbes and Enzymes Plastic-eating microbes and enzymes capable of degrading multiple types of plastics could help reduce global plastic waste and mitigate pollution

AI Coding Is Going From Copilot to Autopilot. Really!

Hype? You bet! A good dose of it!

Once AI can spit out all the code necessary for a functioning large, complex, and complicated system by providing only some rough description of it, we should be skeptical.

However, e.g. multi agent collaboration could possibly solve the issue of developing a large, complex software system via subtasking and a separate software engineer, product manager, designer, QA (quality assurance) engineer.

Typical tasks for AI so far: Detecting and fixing bugs or security flaws is fairly easy so is developing und running relevant test cases.

"A new breed of AI-powered coding tools have emerged—and they’re claiming to be more autonomous versions of earlier assistants like GitHub Copilot, Amazon CodeWhisperer, and Tabnine.

One such new entrant, Devin AI, has been dubbed an “AI software engineer” by its maker, applied AI lab Cognition. According to Cognition, Devin can perform all these tasks unassisted: build a website from scratch and deploy it, find and fix bugs in codebases, and even train and fine-tune its own large language model.
Following its launch, open-source alternatives to Devin have cropped up, including Devika and OpenDevin. Meanwhile makers of established assistants have not been standing still. Researchers at Microsoft, GitHub Copilot’s developer, recently uploaded a paper to the arXiv preprint server introducing AutoDev, which uses autonomous AI agents to generate code and test cases, run tests and check the results, and fix bugs within the test cases. ...
Devin, for instance, resolved only 14 percent of a subset of GitHub issues from real-world code repositories. “There’s still a long way to go for it to become something I can rely on blindfolded,” ..."

AI Coding Is Going From Copilot to Autopilot - IEEE Spectrum AI Coding Is Going From Copilot to Autopilot But so far Devin AI and others still really need humans

Devin AI Website - The First AI Software Engineer Cognition "Cognition AI has unveiled a groundbreaking development in the field of artificial intelligence with the introduction of Devin AI, the world's first fully autonomous AI software engineer. This innovative AI has set a new benchmark in the industry, showcasing an exceptional ability to handle complex software engineering tasks with finesse and precision."

Scholz-Besuch in China: Ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte

Kanzler Scholz kommt daher wie ein treu doofer Pudel!

Ah, der Kanzler weiß mit Stäbchen zu essen! Leider konnte ich dazu kein Foto auf Google oder Bing finden. Schade!

"... Denn China war im November 2022 stramm an der Seite Putins, und ist es heute noch. Putin wird übrigens im Mai erneut nach Peking reisen. China ist schließlich nicht nur mit Russland zusammen Erz-Kontrahent des Westens, sondern auch Kollateralgewinner des Krieges in der Ukraine. Es beliefert Russland mit sogenannten Dual-Use-Gütern (Chips, Werkstoffen usw.), die zivil und militärisch genutzt werden können. „Haltet den Dieb!“ So macht es China: Es fordert den Westen auf, „kein Öl ins Feuer zu gießen“. Xi aber tut es, siehe die Materiallieferungen an Russland. Da kann er noch so oft zu Scholz sagen: „Gemeinsam können wir der Erde mehr Stabilität und Sicherheit einhauchen“. ...
„Präsident Xi und ich haben vereinbart: China und Deutschland wollen sich über die Förderung der Ausrichtung einer hochrangigen Konferenz in der Schweiz und künftiger internationaler Friedenkonferenzen intensiv und positiv abstimmen.“ „Förderung der Ausrichtung“ …. „positiv abstimmen.“ Auf solche sinnfreien Begriffe muss man erst einmal kommen. ...
Wenn all dies das Ergebnis von 200 Minuten Meetings war!? Scholz war nämlich drei Stunden und 20 Minuten mit Staatschef Xi zusammen Es gab zunächst ein einstündiges Delegationsgespräch, dann ein 45-minütiges Vier-Augen-Gespräch mit Teezeremonie. Den größten Raum nahm ein Mittagessen ein. Sieben Gänge. ... Und: Scholz und Xi aßen beide – je nach Gang – mal mit Stäbchen, mal mit Messer und Gabel. Der Kanzler mag chinesisches Essen und kann mit Stäbchen umgehen. Wie BILD weiß. ..."

"... Die umfassende strategische Partnerschaft ist unsere wichtigste Positionierung. Gemeinsam können wir der Erde mehr Stabilität und Sicherheit einhauchen. ..."

Scholz-Besuch in China: Ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte Wenn deutsche „Spitzenpolitiker“ in die Welt reisen, wird medial oft so getan, als käme ein Gigant in ein Land von Hinterwäldlern, denen man erklären müsse, wo der Hase lang läuft. Auch bei Scholz’ Besuch in China ist das nicht anders. Dabei offenbaren Bilder beim Spaziergang mit Staatsoberhaupt Xi unfreiwillig, wer hier nun der Hase ist.

Pressestatements von Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz und Staatspräsident Xi Jinping am 16. April 2024

Brussels Mayor Attempts To Shut Down National Conservatism Conference by Force

Why did the conservatives choose such a hostile environment for their conference?

Was this an intentional provocation for publicity and attention etc.?

Brussels Mayor Attempts To Shut Down National Conservatism Conference by Force It's a good thing opponents of the move can appeal to the liberal values of free speech, free association, and equal treatment under law.

Who are the real cowboys and rodeo queens of Texas? Not Beyonce!

Recommendable!

Muhammad Ali - The Universality of Religion (1977)

Very recommendable! An amazing speech! Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali was the greatest boxer there ever was besides Joe Louis! He was also a philosopher!

Like religions!

Queen - The Show Must Go On (Official Video)

Enjoy! With Freddy Mercury as a drag queen.

Queen - Another One Bites The Dust (Live at the Montreal Forum, 1981 Rem...

Enjoy! Graphic imagery warning: Freddy Mercury poses almost naked on the stage! 😊

President Donald J. Trump Visits New York City Bodega Victimized By Soros-Funded D.A. Alvin Bragg

Watch him campaigning between court appearances!

The Hazy Evolution of Cannabis

Very recommendable! Amazing stuff! Very funny! "Plate tectonics gave us weed!" I think, the host of this show Kallie Moore had tasted some cannabis herself before the show started. 😊

Cannabis is probably the oldest domesticated plant in the world! Wow!

China not only invented the printing press and gun powere among other things, but also rituals involving inhaling cannabis about 2500 years ago!

Animals and humans have developed this system! It dates back maybe hundreds of millions of years.

The Nazis recruited by the U.S. to win the Cold War. Really!

Oh what a junk video! Werner von Braun, the Nazi, who knew of slave labor etc.

How many times has this story been reheated and regurgitated? Leftists love it! This was the beginning of the Cold War!

Ukraine Opening Embassies Across Africa To Counter Russia

Good news! Bravo Ukraine! Competition is good! More is better! The Scramble for Africa continues. 

Saudi Foreign Minister Promises Investments in Pakistan with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable! Saudi Arabia is competing with China and keeping Iran at bay!

Elon Musk's Master Plan: Starlink and Tesla to enter India? with Palki Sharma

Good news! However, there are already Indian competitors.

Microsoft to Invest $1.5 Billion in United Arab Emirates AI Giant G42 with Palki Sharma

Recommendable! China was booted by the UAE at the request of the U.S.

Inside the Race to Build Out America’s Mineral Supply Chain for Lithium and Nickel by mining in the U.S.

Very recommendable! 

Aboriginal people made pottery, sailed to distant islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived

Amazing stuff! How about the famous Easter Islands?

"... In new research published in Quaternary Science Reviews, we report the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia from archaeological excavations on Jiigurru (in the Lizard Island group) on the northern Great Barrier Reef located 600km south of Torres Strait. Our analysis shows the pottery was made locally more than 1,800 years ago. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• We report the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia.

• Earliest known offshore island occupation on the northern Great Barrier Reef.

• Ceramic analysis suggests local raw material sources and manufacture.

• Results demonstrate that Australia was intimately engaged in ancient maritime networks.

Abstract

Aboriginal manufacture and use of pottery was unknown in Australia prior to European settlement, despite well-known ceramic-making traditions in southern Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and the western Pacific. The absence of ancient pottery manufacture in mainland Australia has long puzzled researchers given other documented deep time Aboriginal exchange networks across the continent and the close proximity of pottery-bearing Lapita and post-Lapita maritime communities in the western Pacific with ocean-going watercraft and sophisticated navigation abilities. We report the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia from archaeological excavations on Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group) on the Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia. Comprehensive radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling constrains ceramic deposition to between 2950–2545 cal BP and 1970–1815 cal BP. This timing overlaps with late Lapita and post-Lapita ceramic traditions of southern Papua New Guinea. Geological characterisation of the sherds strongly suggests local manufacture as the vessels belong to three temper and clay groups locally sourced to northeast Australia, and most likely to Jiigurru. The oldest occupation layers date to 6510–5790 cal BP, making Jiigurru the earliest offshore island occupied on the northern Great Barrier Reef. The results demonstrate that northeast Australian First Nations communities had sophisticated canoe voyaging technology and open-sea navigational skills and were intimately engaged in ancient maritime networks, connecting them with peoples, knowledges, and technologies across the Coral Sea region."

Aboriginal people made pottery, sailed to distant islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived

Aboriginal people made pottery and sailed to distant offshore islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived (original article)

Early Aboriginal pottery production and offshore island occupation on Jiigurru (Lizard Island group), Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Fig. 2. Visualisation of sea-level rise on Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group) since the Last Glacial Maximum. (Notice something? Sea level rise is nothing new because of so called anthropogenic Climate Change)

Fig. 3. Connections across the coral sea cultural interaction sphere