I knew Chinese are very good with chop sticks! Pardon my bad joke!
I apologize for my ignorance, before her there was e.g. Sun Yiwen
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Trump Vows to Cut Taxes on Social Security Payments for Seniors and more!
Very recommendable! Bravo!
Paris Olympics 2024: Egyptian Fencer Competes While 7-Months Pregnant. Really!
This woman is irresponsible and reckless! Perhaps, she should be indicted for unborn child endangerment!
China's fall to communism
Very recommendable! According to this video, Chiang Kai-shek made a lot of serious mistakes!
Ukraine receives first F-16 fighter jets after long wait
Good news! At least three or four European countries are delivering dozens of F-16 to Ukraine. Will the Ukraine be able to protect these planes from Russian destruction attempts?
Annalena Baerbock zeigt ihre sportlichen Fähigkeiten bei Besuch in NRW
Luftsprünge auf dem Trampolin, dass ist vielleicht das Einzige was die Außenministerin wirklich kann!
100% of toxic "forever chemicals" break down overnight at room temperature in new reaction
All this ongoing hysteria and alarmism, propaganda and demagoguery about so called forever chemicals is so utterly absurd!
Plastophobia is a serious health condition! Please seek immediate medical help!
"Scientists in Japan have developed a new method for breaking down toxic “forever chemicals” quickly and at room temperature. The technique broke down 100% of certain types of these pollutants overnight, recovering some useful components for reuse. ..."
What’s Driving Russia’s Biggest Property Redistribution (expropriations, nationalizations) in Thirty Years?
Putin the Terrible at work! Arbitrary, lawless expropriations like in the Soviet era have returned!
"Property rights in Russia have become yet another victim of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion, we have seen assets owned by foreigners nationalized via presidential decree; prosecutors and courts overturn decades-old privatizations to benefit members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle; property owned by residents of occupied Ukraine who oppose Russian rule handed to decorated Russian military veterans; and companies, land, and real estate taken off those designated as “extremist.” ..."
Meet J.D. Vance's Jewish chief of staff, Jacob Reses
Recommendable!
"Jacob Reses’ earliest political activity, as a teenager, involved campaigning to raise local taxes and denouncing the right-wing commentator Ann Coulter as “spewing hate.” ...
Usha Vance, the potential second lady who is Hindu and Indian-American ...
Usha Vance, the potential second lady who is Hindu and Indian-American ...
But Reses, a New Jersey native whose grandfather escaped the Holocaust and who became a Republican during his first year at Princeton University — after interning for Hillary Clinton ...
Reses’ steep ascendance in conservative politics has included a fellowship at the Claremont Institute; an influential role at the Heritage Foundation’s lobbying arm; and a stint in the office of Josh Hawley, the Republican senator from Missouri who calls himself a Christian nationalist, proposing that America’s political traditions are Christian in character and intent.
He is intensely private, leaving little digital record of his views, and both he and many people close to him declined to be interviewed. ..."
Reese is at the right hand side of Vance
Who is Molly Jong-Fast! A political analyst with MSNBC. Seriously!
Who is this weirdo and lunatic working for mainstream media? She is the daughter of Erica Jong.
I have happened to watch some of her recent comments on YouTube yesterday. What this women had to say was so blatantly absurd and stupid!
Who hires such a freak!
Image of the day
I believe, I am remiss never having blogged about this ridiculous book by Michael Moore!
Is Moore now also one these White Dudes for Mistress Kamala?
This is such a hilarious and revealing autobiography or self image! Caveat: I never nor will I ever read this book!
Ukraine Delivers One of Largest Cyberattacks in History on Russia lasting one week affecting millions of users and many businesses and government agencies
Good news! Bravo! When will the lethargic, slavish Russian people finally have enough of the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible!
"On the evening of Tuesday, July 30, hackers from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) completed one of the largest Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDOS) attacks in history, derailing Russia’s internet infrastructure, hitting critical resources and gaining access to a vast array of confidential data, sources in Ukrainian intelligence told the Kyiv Post on Wednesday morning.
According to a Ukrainian intelligence source, the attack lasted continuously for a week. It affected the online services of all major Russian banks, including the Central Bank, telecommunications service providers, national payment systems, social networks and messengers, government resources, and dozens of other services. ...
Millions of users in virtually every region of Russia felt the effects of the cyber operation, many of them unable to use internet services, the source said.
The affected financial entities included VTB Bank, Alfa Bank, SberBank, Raiffeisen Bank, RSHB Bank, Ak Bars Bank, Rosbank, Gazprombank, Tinkoff Bank, iBank, Dom.RF Bank, and the Bank of Russia. On the last day of the attack, the resources of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Federal Tax Service were also affected. ..."
1,400 additional traffic fatalities in the U.S. each year likely accounted for by the legalization of marijuana
I bet the actual fatality numbers are higher! The popular legalization of so called recreational drugs has consequences!
Will these drugged offenders be sanctioned harsher than sober drivers? Don't bet on it, but clearly they should!
"The number of additional traffic fatalities in the U.S. each year likely accounted for by the legalization of marijuana, a 2023 study found. Law enforcement is racing to identify drivers who are impaired by cannabis. Police rely on extra training and saliva tests, but those check only for recent marijuana use. In the blood, the concentration of THC, the psychoactive compound that makes people high, falls even as impairment increases, unlike alcohol, where levels are more closely related to how compromised drivers are, toxicologists say."
From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• TWFE [traditional two-way-fixed-effects] methods are inadequate for policy evaluation.
• Traffic fatalities increase by 2.2 per billion miles driven after retail legalization.
• States who legalized earlier experienced larger traffic fatality increases.
Abstract
Background
This study examines the effect of retail recreational marijuana legalization on traffic fatalities using the most current data available and recent advancements in difference-in-difference estimation methods ...
Method
A modified difference-in-difference (CS-DID) is used to estimate the effect of recreational marijuana legalization on traffic fatalities reported in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Difference-in-difference regression models are run at the state-year level, using data from 2007 through 2020, and compared to estimates using traditional two-way-fixed-effects (TWFE) models.
Results
Consistent with past studies, results from conventional TWFE suggest traffic fatalities increase at a rate of 1.2 per billion vehicle miles traveled (BVMT) after retail of recreational marijuana begins. However, using the CS-DID model, we find slightly larger average total treatment effects (∼2.2 fatalities per BVMT). Moreover, the size of the effect changes across time, where cohorts “treated” earlier have substantially higher increases than those who more recently legalized.
Conclusion
Traffic fatalities increase by 2.2 per billion miles driven after retail legalization, which may account for as many as 1400 traffic fatalities annually. States who legalized earlier experienced larger traffic fatality increases. TWFE methods are inadequate for policy evaluation and do not capture heterogeneous effects across time."
Revisiting the effect of recreational marijuana on traffic fatalities (open access, I presume this is the referenced study)
Google search annoyances
I have recently resumed some Python programming. Therefore, I Google quite often for help.
However, many of the top search results are overwhelmed with little helpful websites loaded advertisement like spam. E.g. frequently https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/ comes up among the top results.
Ukrainian HUR Special Forces Deliver Devastating Strike on Russian Base in Syria
What is the Ukraine up to? Fighting Putin the Terrible's soldiers/mercenaries around the world!
Reportedly, Putin the Terrible is recruiting Syrians to fight in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Incredible! This war is like World War III by any other name!
It is an interesting and unusual strategy to counter/deny Putin the Terrible's dubious ambitions in foreign countries.
Yesterday it was reported that the Ukraine was possibly involved in a devastating defeat of Russian mercenaries in Mali (I blogged here about it).
"Kyiv Post has obtained several exclusive videos and photos showing the continuation of a special operation by the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) units to degrade Russian military assets in Syria.
According to Kyiv Post sources within the intelligence agency, the Khimik group carried out another complex strike against the positions of the Russian forces in Syria at the end of July 2024.
The target of the attack was Russian military equipment at the Kuweires airbase, which is located east of Aleppo and occupied by Russian forces. ...
In the fall of last year, Moscow transferred some troops and equipment from Syria to the battlefield in Ukraine, potentially making their forces in Syria more vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks in the region.
Due to their prolonged presence in the region, the Russians have created numerous recruitment centers to enlist Syrian mercenaries for the war in Ukraine. ..."
WHO: Adolescent girls face alarming rates of intimate partner violence, nearly 1 in 4 before age 20
I suspect these numbers are exaggerated! It is only a metadata study!
What is usually rarely mentioned that other females are often involved as willing and often intentional accessories to this sexual violence.
Strangely enough, the WHO has focused only on male on female violence!
Did the WHO equate child marriage automatically with intimate partner violence? That would be dubious in some cases!
"Among adolescent girls who have been in a relationship, nearly a quarter (24%) – close to 19 million – will have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20 years old, as highlighted by a new analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO) published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. Almost 1 in 6 (16%) experienced such violence in the past year. ..."
From the abstract
"Background
Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem and negatively affects short-term and long-term health, development, and wellbeing of adolescent girls. Global estimates from WHO have shown that adolescent girls aged 15–19 years experience high rates of intimate partner violence. We aimed to estimate the lifetime and past-year prevalence and patterns of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls by male partners across 161 countries and areas, and to examine the country-level factors, including the prevalence of child marriage, associated with the lifetime and past-year prevalence of intimate partner violence in this age group.
Methods
These analyses used the 2018 global, regional, and country estimates on intimate partner violence published by WHO and economic, social, and political metadata from subject-specific databases. Drawing on data from the WHO Global Database on Prevalence of Violence Against Women, we used hierarchical Bayesian modelling techniques to estimate lifetime and past-year prevalence of physical or sexual (or both) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls aged 15–19 years by country. Linear regression methods were used to examine contextual social, economic, and political factors associated with intimate partner violence against adolescent girls in the 101 countries (lifetime prevalence) and 105 countries (past-year prevalence) for which these metadata were available.
Findings
The estimated global prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against ever-partnered adolescent girls aged 15–19 years was 24% (95% uncertainty interval 21–28) in their lifetime and 16% (14–19) in the past year. Prevalence varied greatly across countries and regions, with lifetime prevalence ranging from 6% (3–11) in Georgia to 49% (35–64) in Papua New Guinea. Overall, the prevalence of both lifetime (154 countries) and past-year (157 countries) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls was higher in low-income and lower-middle-income countries and regions than in high-income countries and regions. Countries with higher rates of female secondary school enrollment and those with inheritance laws that are more gender-equal had lower prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls. Lower-income countries and societies with a high prevalence of child marriage had higher prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls.
Interpretation
Our findings highlight the widespread prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls across the globe and its relationship with country-level contextual factors. They emphasise the need for promoting and ensuring policies and programmes that increase and ensure gender equality. Countries should strive to provide secondary education for all girls, ensure equal property rights for women, eliminate discriminatory gender norms, and address harmful practices such as child marriage."
Deutschland: Wehrpflicht für alle! Was denn sonst!
Wer es ernst meint mit der Gleichberechtigung der Geschlechter kann nicht gegen die Wehrpflicht von Frauen sein. Im Gegenteil!
In dem Artikel werden wieder mal die vielen Schwächen des weiblichen Geschlechts zitiert und übertrieben und die Vorteile erst gar nicht erwähnt. Z.B. verletzte weibliche Soldaten würden männliche Kameraden vom Kampf abhalten und ähnlicher, althergebrachter Quatsch!
Wenn ein Krieg ausbricht oder auszubrechen droht werden wohl einige Frauen schwanger werden, um dadurch den Einzug zu umgehen. Aber was solls.
Robot Dentist: Startup's Bot Could Save Time in the Chair and is more accurate
Good news! Who wants to be the first to try? Fasten your seat belt! So the robot will hit your nerve faster? Just kidding! 😊
Perceptive's robotic dentist performs a procedure on a human patient
Massachusetts illegal immigrant shelters could cost over $1B this fiscal year
Bad news! It is not quite clear how much of that cost can be attributed to illegal immigrants.
"Gov. Maura Healey’s administration expects to spend more money than originally anticipated over the next year on the emergency shelter system housing migrants and local families ..."
Tesla primarily uses only camera-based driver assist technology?
If confirmed, simply insufficient! Autonomous vehicles probably need at least two different sensory systems.
"Video and data that WSJ gathered from more than 200 crashes show how Tesla’s camera-based driver-assist technology is putting the public at risk. Humans train Tesla’s systems on obstacles that the car might encounter, while other companies’ driver-assist cars are equipped with radar and lidar, an expensive technology that uses lasers to identify obstacles. (Some Tesla models have radar.) CEO Elon Musk has repeated over the years that some Tesla models can drive autonomously more safely than a human driver and that the company’s mix of sensors is good. The automaker disputes government claims that it misled the public about its cars’ capabilities."
Russia Legalizes Bitcoin And Crypto for International Trade To Bypass Sanctions
Since Roman times they used to say "pecunia non olet" (money does not stink)!
"In a significant legislative move, Russian lawmakers have passed a bill permitting businesses to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in international trade, according to a report by Reuters. This development is part of Russia's strategy to circumvent Western sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine. The new law, expected to take effect in September, aims to address delays in international payments, particularly with key trading partners like China, India, and the UAE. ..."
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Nathalie Stutzmann records Dvořák Symphony No. 9 'New World' and American Suite
Enjoy! The conductor is also an opera singer!
The Hezbollah Man Behind several Massacres is dead! (official IDF announcement)
Good news! Bravo IDF!
Haiti PM Garry Conille Narrowly Survives Hospital Ambush by Armed Gangs
More bad news from Haiti! Compare that to the almost paradise like neighboring Dominican Republic!
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran: IRGC confirms in statement
Good news! One who lives by the sword, will die by the sword! Kudos Israel! Great job! Hezbollah's Nasrallah is next!
Cowardly leaders (e.g. by hiding in Iran) of cowardly mass monster killers are not safe anywhere!
Bangladesh Protests Resume Despite Quota Rollback with Palki Sharma
Very recommendable! About 200 protesters were killed by security forces!
Why is Indonesia Building a New Capital? with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! Notice, Jakarta is sinking due to among other things depletion of ground water and overpopulation not climate change.
Ukraine says it Helped Rebels Defeat Russia's Wagner Forces in Mali with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! If Ukraine indeed pulled this off, then this is breathtaking! Kudos!
Is Kim Jong Un's Health Deteriorating? Who will Succeed Him? with Palki Sharma
Very recommendable! When will the Korean peninsula be reunited again? Germany was reunified in 1990.
Boxers who failed gender tests before will fight women at Olympic Games in Paris 2024
Men who beat up women at the Olympic Games! Shameful!
As a female athlete I would boycott the fight! Let the man box with himself or with another man!
Where are the usual women's rights activists when you need them!!!!
"Two boxers have caused an uproar after being allowed to compete against women at the Paris Olympics despite having previously failed gender eligibility tests. Both have won gold medals against women at different international boxing competitions.
Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) both were stripped of medals at the 2023 world championships in New Delhi after event organizers — the International Boxing Association — determined the fighters were ineligible. ..."
The Electronic Data of Nearly Every Russian Has Been Leaked – Moscow’s Tech Watchdog
Good news! Perhaps this will get a second Russian revolution started! This time against Putin the Terrible!
When will the lethargic, apathetic, and slavish Russian people finally get rid of their last czar, the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible! How many more young Russian men have to die or be maimed because Putin the Terrible has conducted a “special military operation” since February of 2022!
Ben Hur has investigated why paternal mitochondria are eliminated immediately after fertilization like they were pathogens and Rubicon is involved too
Amazing stuff!
What a great movie Ben Hur (1959) was! Do not cross the Rubicon! 😊
"Within minutes of fertilization, the egg of a fruit fly becomes a scene from the battle of the sexes. The egg attacks and destroys the cellular “power plants,” or mitochondria, from the sperm that had fertilized it, so that only its own mitochondria remain. These findings from a new ... study ... might provide insights into advanced fertilization treatments and shed light on a long-standing mystery: How and why do we inherit all of our mitochondria from our mothers?
Paternal mitochondria vanish soon after fertilization in virtually all species, from sexually reproducing plants through fungi and insects to mammals, including humans. One theory for this holds that paternal mitochondria are simply diluted by the vastly more abundant maternal ones, but another suggests that they are actively eliminated by the egg.
About a decade ago ... provided crucial evidence in favor of the active elimination theory. The new study, led by PhD student Sharon Ben-Hur, reveals the molecular details of this elimination, showing that the egg launches a deliberate, targeted attack on the sperm’s mitochondria. ..."
From the abstract:
"Mitochondria are maternally inherited, but the mechanisms underlying paternal mitochondrial elimination after fertilization are far less clear. Using Drosophila, we show that special egg-derived multivesicular body vesicles promote paternal mitochondrial elimination by activating an LC3-associated phagocytosis-like pathway, a cellular defense pathway commonly employed against invading microbes. Upon fertilization, these egg-derived vesicles form extended vesicular sheaths around the sperm flagellum, promoting degradation of the sperm mitochondrial derivative and plasma membrane. LC3-associated phagocytosis cascade of events, including recruitment of a Rubicon-based class III PI(3)K complex to the flagellum vesicular sheaths, its activation, and consequent recruitment of Atg8/LC3, are all required for paternal mitochondrial elimination. Finally, lysosomes fuse with strings of large vesicles derived from the flagellum vesicular sheaths and contain degrading fragments of the paternal mitochondrial derivative. Given reports showing that in some mammals, the paternal mitochondria are also decorated with Atg8/LC3 and surrounded by multivesicular bodies upon fertilization, our findings suggest that a similar pathway also mediates paternal mitochondrial elimination in other flagellated sperm-producing organisms."
Fig. 1: Rubicon is required for PME after fertilization.
Dr. Sharon Ben-Hur (lead researcher)
Bacterial immune system: Catch a Phage Virus by Its Tail
Amazing stuff!
"Phages, viruses that attack bacteria, have a head and a tail. The head contains the phage’s genetic material and the tail is used to identify a potential host, that is, a bacterial cell into which it can inject this material. Once the injection is complete, the phage hijacks the bacterium’s cellular machinery and forces it to produce new copies of itself, which ultimately burst the cell and infect other bacteria in the colony. In a new study ... researchers reveal a bacterial immune system that thwarts the phages’ plot by attaching a small protein molecule to their tails. The components of this new immune system are similar in structure to a human immunity mechanism, and they might help reveal how this mechanism works and how our own immune system has evolved. ...
The first antiphage defense mechanisms in bacteria were discovered in the 1960s, but only a handful of such mechanisms were known until recently. The most famous of these is CRISPR-Cas9, whose discovery led to a revolution in gene editing. In recent years, however, there has been a wave of new findings in the field, leading to the discovery of more than 150 new bacterial immune systems with varied modes of action."
The first antiphage defense mechanisms in bacteria were discovered in the 1960s, but only a handful of such mechanisms were known until recently. The most famous of these is CRISPR-Cas9, whose discovery led to a revolution in gene editing. In recent years, however, there has been a wave of new findings in the field, leading to the discovery of more than 150 new bacterial immune systems with varied modes of action."
From the abstract:
"Several immune pathways in humans conjugate ubiquitin-like proteins to virus and host molecules as a means of antiviral defence. Here we studied an antiphage defence system in bacteria, comprising a ubiquitin-like protein, ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes E1 and E2, and a deubiquitinase. We show that during phage infection, this system specifically conjugates the ubiquitin-like protein to the phage central tail fibre, a protein at the tip of the tail that is essential for tail assembly as well as for recognition of the target host receptor. Following infection, cells encoding this defence system release a mixture of partially assembled, tailless phage particles and fully assembled phages in which the central tail fibre is obstructed by the covalently attached ubiquitin-like protein. These phages show severely impaired infectivity, explaining how the defence system protects the bacterial population from the spread of phage infection. Our findings demonstrate that conjugation of ubiquitin-like proteins is an antiviral strategy conserved across the tree of life."
Bacteria conjugate ubiquitin-like proteins to interfere with phage assembly (no public access)
Sensational breakthrough marks step toward revealing hidden structure of prime numbers
Amazing stuff!
"Just as molecules are composed of atoms, in math, every natural number can be broken down into its prime factors—those that are divisible only by themselves and 1. Mathematicians want to understand how primes are distributed along the number line, in the hope of revealing an organizing principle for the atoms of arithmetic.
“At first sight, they look pretty random,” ... “But actually, there’s believed to be this hidden structure within the prime numbers.” ...
For 165 years, mathematicians seeking that structure have focused on the Riemann hypothesis. Proving it would offer a Rosetta Stone for decoding the primes—as well as a $1 million award from the Clay Mathematics Institute. Now, in a preprint posted online on 31 May, Maynard and Larry Guth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have taken a step in this direction by ruling out certain exceptions to the Riemann hypothesis. The result is unlikely to win the cash prize, but it represents the first progress in decades on a major knot in math’s biggest unsolved problem, and it promises to spark new advances throughout number theory. ...
In the late 1700s, at the age of 16, German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss saw that the frequency of prime numbers seems to diminish as they get bigger and posited that they scale according to a simple formula: the number of primes less than or equal to X is roughly X divided by the natural logarithm of X. Gauss’s estimate has stood up impressively well. To the best mathematicians can tell, the actual number of primes bounces slightly above and below this curve up to infinity. That known primes follow such a simple formula so closely suggests the primes aren’t completely random; there must be some deep connections governing where they appear. ..."
In the late 1700s, at the age of 16, German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss saw that the frequency of prime numbers seems to diminish as they get bigger and posited that they scale according to a simple formula: the number of primes less than or equal to X is roughly X divided by the natural logarithm of X. Gauss’s estimate has stood up impressively well. To the best mathematicians can tell, the actual number of primes bounces slightly above and below this curve up to infinity. That known primes follow such a simple formula so closely suggests the primes aren’t completely random; there must be some deep connections governing where they appear. ..."
From the (very short) abstract (for a 48 pages long paper):
"We prove new bounds for how often Dirichlet polynomials can take large values. This gives improved estimates for a Dirichlet polynomial of length N taking values of size close to N3/4, which is the critical situation for several estimates in analytic number theory connected to prime numbers and the Riemann zeta function. As a consequence, we deduce a zero density estimate N(σ,T)≤T30(1−σ)/13+o(1) and asymptotics for primes in short intervals of length x17/30+o(1)."
New large value estimates for Dirichlet polynomials (open access)
Japan's Isuzu to enter U.S. EV truck market ahead of tougher CO2 rules. Really!
Again stupid government regulations in response to the Global Warming Hoax and Climate Change religion will raise the costs for businesses and consumers!
One can only hope that President Trump will revoke these Big Government central planning regulations on the first day in office!
"TOKYO -- Japan's Isuzu Motors will start selling locally assembled compact electric trucks in North America in August and expand into midsize trucks in 2026, ahead of the U.S. government's implementation of stricter vehicle emissions regulations, starting in 2027 ..."
IBM Report: Escalating worldwide business Data Breach Disruptions Push Costs to New Highs
Bad news!
"IBM ... today released its annual Cost of a Data Breach Report revealing the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024, as breaches grow more disruptive and further expand demands on cyber teams. Breach costs increased 10% from the prior year, the largest yearly jump since the pandemic, as 70% of breached organizations reported that the breach caused significant or very significant disruption. ..."
AI startups raised $41.5 billion worldwide in five years
Good news!
"In just a few years, AI has become one of the biggest recipes for success in the startup world. AI startups are very popular with investors. Accordingly, startups in the industry have received above-average financing over the past five years. An international study by AI developer Gieni has shown that in the past five years alone, around $41.5 billion has flowed into a total of 536 companies founded worldwide. The AI sector is therefore in seventh place among the startup sectors with the highest investment amounts over the past five years. ..."
German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, unbowed by reported Russian plot to assassinate the CEO, announces order for ammo factory in Ukraine
Good news!
"Key facts
- Rheinmetall and Ukraine plan to set up joint venture to produce 155mm artillery ammunition
- Annual production of a six-digit number of shells
- Rheinmetall will have a 51 percent stake in the new company, with remaining 49 percent share held by Ukrainian Partner ...
"
Joint venture with Ukrainian partner: Rheinmetall to produce artillery ammunition in Ukraine (original news release)
US National debt tops $35 trillion. Unsustainable!
Such debt two makes the US a paper tiger! For comparison, the US nominal GDP was less than $27.5 in 2023. Thus, the debt level is now about 127% of GDP.
The excessive, profligate spending by the U.S. Congress needs to stop! This is irresponsible and reckless!
"The U.S. national debt as of Monday officially topped $35 trillion, a grim milestone for the U.S. government and the economy as the national debt continues to soar each year.
The national debt has nearly tripled in the last 20 years. ...
Before COVID-19, deficits remained under $1 trillion, but since the pandemic they have been well above the previously unbroken $1 trillion-dollar mark. ...
“CBO projects that interest costs in 2024 will total $892 billion — a jump of 36 percent from the previous year and following increases of 35 and 38 percent in each of the two years before that,” ..."
“CBO projects that interest costs in 2024 will total $892 billion — a jump of 36 percent from the previous year and following increases of 35 and 38 percent in each of the two years before that,” ..."
Since the year 2000, the federal deficit has been severely deteriorating year after year!
Taiwan's TSMC to start construction of first European chip plant in August in Germany
Good news!
I have already blogged here in August of 2023 about TSMC's plans to open a chip plant in Silicon Saxony!
Within a few years, TSMC has diversified its chip production to Japan, US, and Europe.
"Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will hold a groundbreaking ceremony next month in Dresden, Germany, for its first plant in Europe, the latest milestone as the world's top chipmaker expands its global production footprint ...
TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei will lead a delegation from the company and host equipment and material suppliers, clients and government officials on Aug. 20 in a sign of the chipmaker's commitment to its investment in Germany ..."
Will Israel be forced to use nuclear weapons?
After Turkey's President and megalomaniac Osman sultan Erdogan (age 70, in power since 2003) just made threats to invade Israel and Iran's constant threats to Israel, we might be on the brink of the use of nuclear weapons by Israel!
Will NATO strongly remind Erdogan to come to his senses very quickly!
How close are we to World War III?
Hope and pray that reason and common sense will prevail!
46th President calls for Term-Limits on Supreme Court justices. Really!
What a joke coming from this senile, demented and corrupt lifelong pathological and serial liar and career politician!
Had the members of the U.S. Congress not exempted themselves when they established term limits for U.S. Presidents in 1951, Joseph Biden from Scranton, PA would have long been forgotten and faded away.
The Founding Fathers and Mothers could not conceive that a dominant caste of lifelong career politicians would emerge when they crafted the constitution!
Monday, July 29, 2024
Why wasn't Thailand Colonized?
Very recommendable! How Laos was created is unfortunately not explained.
India's Prime Minister Modi Set to Visit Ukraine After Trip to Russia with Palki Sharma
Good news! No Indian Prime Minister has visited the Ukraine since its independence in 1991. Foreign politicians visiting Volodymyr Zelensky have to travel from Poland to Kyiv by train, because of the war.
Female whale shark with satellite transmitter for record-breaking four years shows consistent migrations
Amazing stuff!
"A team of researchers at the University of Rhode Island and Nova Southeastern University in Florida have been tracking a 26-foot endangered whale shark—named "Rio Lady"—with a satellite transmitter for more than four years—a record for whale sharks and one of the longest tracking endeavors for any species of shark. ...
Whale sharks, which live from 80 to 130 years, are the world's largest fish and third largest creature in the ocean—behind blue and fin whales. ...
Annually, they need to travel about 5,000 miles to find enough food to survive."
Whale sharks, which live from 80 to 130 years, are the world's largest fish and third largest creature in the ocean—behind blue and fin whales. ...
Annually, they need to travel about 5,000 miles to find enough food to survive."
From the abstract:
"Context
Satellite telemetry has revolutionised the study of animal movement, particularly for mobile marine animals, whose movements and habitat make consistent, long-term observation difficult.
Aims
Summarise the movements of Rio Lady, a mature female whale shark (Rhincodon typus), to characterise these movements, and to predict expected behaviour throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).
Methods
Rio Lady was tracked using satellite telemetry for over 1600 days, generating over 1400 locations and travelling over 40,000 km. State–space and move persistence modelling enabled characterisation of behaviour, and machine learning (ML) enabled the development of habitat-suitability models to predict habitat utilisation, on the basis of location transmissions and their environmental covariates.
Key results
Rio Lady exhibited annually consistent patterns of movements among three regions within the GOM. Final ML models produced seasonally dynamic predictions of habitat use throughout the GOM.
Conclusions
The application of these methods to long-term location data exemplifies how long-term movement patterns and core areas can be discovered and predicted for marine animals.
Implications
Despite our limited dataset, our integrative approach advances methods to summarise and predict behaviour of mobile species and improve understanding of their ecology."
Tracking 4 years in the life of a female whale shark shows consistent migrations in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean (no public access)
Why the Communist Party of China model is failing
Very recommendable! Will we finally see the demise of the all dominating Communist Party! China needs more pluralism, federalism, and free market economy!
"The authoritarian China model under President Xi Jinping’s leadership is facing increasing failure. Its most critical flaw lies in the unconstrained power of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), arbitrarily intervening in market and social activities for the interest of itself or its leaders without robust mechanisms for accountability and self-correction. ...
The China model, in effect, is an institutional system that combines extensive state control and ownership of resources with limited free-market activity, all led by the authoritarian CCP. A main characteristic is the CCP’s ability to mobilise organisational resources efficiently and take the actions needed to reach a specific single goal. ...
Believing that the China model is superior to what the capitalist West has to offer and that the Chinese path to modernisation is the way to build a stronger nation, the CCP has enhanced its control at home and its influence abroad. Economically, Xi has applied measures to enhance the strength, size and performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) while imposing stricter regulation on the once-thriving private sector, especially tech businesses and finance. More than a dozen pieces of national security legislation have been passed or amended by Beijing since 2014, including anti-espionage, counterterrorism and data security laws. ...
And yet, despite the CCP’s belief in the China model, the Chinese market is losing its dynamism. The combined market value of private companies, which peaked at US$4.745 trillion in 2021, had fallen below US$2 trillion by the end of 2023. Foreign direct investment was a mere US$33 billion in 2023, less than 10 percent of the $344 billion reached in 2021 and the lowest level since 1993. Due to the decline in domestic consumption and investment, the youth unemployment rate has exceeded a critical 15 percent since 2022, and the International Monetary Fund forecasts China’s annual GDP growth will be just 4.6 percent in 2024 and fall to around 3.5 percent by 2028. The West’s efforts to de-risk their economies ...
The IMF’s forecasts suggest that China has fallen into the middle-income trap, a phenomenon in which economies rise to a certain level of development below that of advanced nations and become stuck there. ..."
The China model, in effect, is an institutional system that combines extensive state control and ownership of resources with limited free-market activity, all led by the authoritarian CCP. A main characteristic is the CCP’s ability to mobilise organisational resources efficiently and take the actions needed to reach a specific single goal. ...
Believing that the China model is superior to what the capitalist West has to offer and that the Chinese path to modernisation is the way to build a stronger nation, the CCP has enhanced its control at home and its influence abroad. Economically, Xi has applied measures to enhance the strength, size and performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) while imposing stricter regulation on the once-thriving private sector, especially tech businesses and finance. More than a dozen pieces of national security legislation have been passed or amended by Beijing since 2014, including anti-espionage, counterterrorism and data security laws. ...
And yet, despite the CCP’s belief in the China model, the Chinese market is losing its dynamism. The combined market value of private companies, which peaked at US$4.745 trillion in 2021, had fallen below US$2 trillion by the end of 2023. Foreign direct investment was a mere US$33 billion in 2023, less than 10 percent of the $344 billion reached in 2021 and the lowest level since 1993. Due to the decline in domestic consumption and investment, the youth unemployment rate has exceeded a critical 15 percent since 2022, and the International Monetary Fund forecasts China’s annual GDP growth will be just 4.6 percent in 2024 and fall to around 3.5 percent by 2028. The West’s efforts to de-risk their economies ...
The IMF’s forecasts suggest that China has fallen into the middle-income trap, a phenomenon in which economies rise to a certain level of development below that of advanced nations and become stuck there. ..."
China’s growing influence in the Middle East
Very recommendable and very concerning!
Western countries have to stop imposing excessive and lofty moral and ethical standards on Arab countries!
"China’s economic and political engagement in the Middle East has surged over the past decade, particularly in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and amid growing perceptions of the United States’ withdrawal from the region. ...
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), initiated in 2013, has significantly increased China’s involvement in the region and propelled Beijing to become, since 2016, the primary foreign investor there. Initially focused on energy-sector trade and investment, Beijing has broadened the scope of its regional engagement to encompass infrastructure, technologically advanced smart-city projects, innovation hubs and 5G mobile networks. ...
Middle Eastern leaders, increasingly disillusioned with policies of the United States—including its invasion of Iraq in 2003, support for the Arab Spring in 2011, hurried exit from Afghanistan and withdrawal from nuclear negotiations with Iran—have turned towards China as a potentially more reliable partner. For Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries especially, the relationship with China has become strategic rather than opportunistic. China’s ability and willingness to cooperate with regional players without imposing political or human rights ideals align with the visions of Middle Eastern leaders. ...
allowing China to fill the gap. China’s trade with the six-member GCC bloc has drastically surged, increasing from $10 billion in 2000 to more than $230 billion in 2021, further contributing to the erosion of Western influence in the region. China’s increasing interest in technology and its aspiration for technological autonomy have also significantly affected its relationship with the Middle East. ...
China has developed a partnership with Israel that has expanded across various domains, from infrastructure to agriculture and education. Trade between the two reached a record $21 billion in 2022, and Chinese firms have been engaged in about 500 investment deals in Israel over the past decade, predominantly in the technology sector, focusing on areas such as telecommunications, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. ...
A significant step in Beijing’s evolving position occurred in February 2024, when China’s representation at the International Court of Justice asserted Palestinians’ right to self-determination, including the use of armed struggle, signalling more explicit support for Hamas. ..."
Middle Eastern leaders, increasingly disillusioned with policies of the United States—including its invasion of Iraq in 2003, support for the Arab Spring in 2011, hurried exit from Afghanistan and withdrawal from nuclear negotiations with Iran—have turned towards China as a potentially more reliable partner. For Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries especially, the relationship with China has become strategic rather than opportunistic. China’s ability and willingness to cooperate with regional players without imposing political or human rights ideals align with the visions of Middle Eastern leaders. ...
allowing China to fill the gap. China’s trade with the six-member GCC bloc has drastically surged, increasing from $10 billion in 2000 to more than $230 billion in 2021, further contributing to the erosion of Western influence in the region. China’s increasing interest in technology and its aspiration for technological autonomy have also significantly affected its relationship with the Middle East. ...
China has developed a partnership with Israel that has expanded across various domains, from infrastructure to agriculture and education. Trade between the two reached a record $21 billion in 2022, and Chinese firms have been engaged in about 500 investment deals in Israel over the past decade, predominantly in the technology sector, focusing on areas such as telecommunications, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. ...
A significant step in Beijing’s evolving position occurred in February 2024, when China’s representation at the International Court of Justice asserted Palestinians’ right to self-determination, including the use of armed struggle, signalling more explicit support for Hamas. ..."
An immune factor in the brain plays critical roles in neuron function and aging
Amazing stuff!
"Immune cells in the central nervous system called microglia produce a protein called C1q, which helps the immune system prune synapses (the junctions between neurons) in the developing brain. A new study reveals that C1q can also enter neurons, where it influences protein production, and can accumulate within neurons over time. These new findings ... suggest C1q may be involved in age-related cognitive changes and neurodegenerative conditions. ...
The amount of C1q in the brain increases with age in both people and mice, but how that relates to brain function has been unclear. ..."
The amount of C1q in the brain increases with age in both people and mice, but how that relates to brain function has been unclear. ..."
From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• Microglial C1q accumulates in neuronal ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes across aging
• C1q protein undergoes RNA-mediated liquid-liquid phase separation
• RNA is necessary for C1q interactions with neuronal RNP complexes in vivo
• Adult C1qKO mice have elevated neuronal translation and altered brain proteostasis
Summary
Neuroimmune interactions mediate intercellular communication and underlie critical brain functions. Microglia, CNS-resident macrophages, modulate the brain through direct physical interactions and the secretion of molecules. One such secreted factor, the complement protein C1q, contributes to complement-mediated synapse elimination in both developmental and disease models, yet brain C1q protein levels increase significantly throughout aging. Here, we report that C1q interacts with neuronal ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes in an age-dependent manner. Purified C1q protein undergoes RNA-dependent liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in vitro, and the interaction of C1q with neuronal RNP complexes in vivo is dependent on RNA and endocytosis. Mice lacking C1q have age-specific alterations in neuronal protein synthesis in vivo and impaired fear memory extinction. Together, our findings reveal a biophysical property of C1q that underlies RNA- and age-dependent neuronal interactions and demonstrate a role of C1q in critical intracellular neuronal processes."
Microglial-derived C1q integrates into neuronal ribonucleoprotein complexes and impacts protein homeostasis in the aging brain (open access)
Graphical abstract
C1q, produced by microglia (green and blue), interacts with neurons (purple and blue).
Can the US Department of Education Really Be Closed? Yes, Starting Here.
Of course! Who needs a central government department like this in a union of independent states!
More federalism and devolution of power please! Education should be the prerogative of the individual states! How about more real diversity, equity, and inclusion! 😊
The goal: More small and limited government! For too long, the U.S. has trended towards Big Government!
Hungary's secret €1 billion loan from China: A financial lifeline
Big and bad news! Stunning! Is the Hungarian exit next (voluntary or not so voluntary)?
China is making inroads into the EU!
"... Hungary borrowed 1 billion euros this spring. This is the largest loan ever taken by Budapest from three Chinese banks. The loan, provided by the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, and the Hungarian branch of the Bank of China, was fully disbursed on April 19 and is to be repaid within three years.
The first to report this information was the Hungarian economic portal "Portfolio”, and it was later confirmed by a government agency. ...
Budapest is still waiting for billions of euros from EU funds. The new Chinese loan constitutes a significant portion of the national debt. ...
With Hungary's record public debt of 148 billion dollars (73.5 percent of GDP) and a budget deficit of 6.7 percent of GDP, Budapest desperately needs cash. ..."
Budapest is still waiting for billions of euros from EU funds. The new Chinese loan constitutes a significant portion of the national debt. ...
With Hungary's record public debt of 148 billion dollars (73.5 percent of GDP) and a budget deficit of 6.7 percent of GDP, Budapest desperately needs cash. ..."
German DAX companies received up to 44 billion Euros in subsidies from the German government in the past 8 years
Shocking! Most likely what a waste of taxpayer money and it distorts competition! Too big to fail and other connotations come to mind!
In 2023 alone, about 11 billion Euros in subsidies!
"... The largest recipient of state funds is the energy company E.ON, followed by car manufacturer Volkswagen and energy supplier RWE. The extent to which profitable companies receive public funding has risen dramatically in recent years. In 2023, more than five times as many subsidies were paid out to major German corporations than in 2016. ...
The three companies with the highest subsidies received 52% of the amounts collected from the annual reports, totalling 18.1 billion euros. ..."
The three companies with the highest subsidies received 52% of the amounts collected from the annual reports, totalling 18.1 billion euros. ..."
Credits: Dax-Konzerne erhalten Milliardensubventionen "Summe verdoppelt. Allein im vergangenen Jahr flossen rund 11 Milliarden Euro an die 40 im deutschen Leitindex notierten Unternehmen. Eine neue Analyse stellt die wirtschaftliche Notwendigkeit infrage."
English for trippers: Truth in truce
A truculent and ruthless proposition!
Will the Olympic Truce be maintained and observed at the Olympic Games Paris 2024? There are already some contraindications!
Turkish Foreign Ministry equates Netanyahu to Hitler. NATO membership need to be reviewed urgently!
What the heck is going on with Turkey!!! Just blogged here about the 70 year old Osman sultan Erdogan's threat to invade Israel! How close are we to World War III?
If confirmed, then NATO may need to suspend the membership of Turkey immediately!
Unfortunately, the article does not provide a link nor an image of the Xtwitter tweet.
Arbitrary tweaks to temperature data claiming ‘hottest day ever’ may be biased, faulty, experts say
Yes, indeed these temperature data are very dubious! Global Warming is a hoax and Climate Change is a religion!
One of the several major reasons is the urban heat island effect, which is anthropogenic and it affects temperature measurements of weather stations!
How many weather stations are e.g. located in remote and uninhabited areas?
Data manipulation by e.g. NOAA is another reason!
"... These claims are based entirely or in part on temperature datasets released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Some experts say the accuracy of the data is questionable. The agency adjusts the data using a complex algorithm that it says improves the quality of the data — and there are some legitimate reasons for the adjustments — but NOAA isn’t entirely transparent as to why some station’s data has been altered. ...
However, the number of stations within the network has declined over the past 30 years. In 1957, the network was composed of 1,218 stations. Certified consulting meteorologist John Shewchuk told Just the News that after 1990, due to the equipment aging and personnel retirements, the numbers began to decline. In 2020, there were only 830 stations left. ..."
However, the number of stations within the network has declined over the past 30 years. In 1957, the network was composed of 1,218 stations. Certified consulting meteorologist John Shewchuk told Just the News that after 1990, due to the equipment aging and personnel retirements, the numbers began to decline. In 2020, there were only 830 stations left. ..."
Maybe the real temperature data looks more like the blue data line
RKI-Protokolle: War das Corona-Virus vom Menschen geplant und deshalb möglicherweise gefährlicher als gedacht? Wirklich!
Nichts neues!!!
Es war von Anfang an bekannt (seit mindestens ersten Halbjahr 2020), dass der Virus aus dem Wuhan Institute für Virologie stammen könnte (sog. lab leak hypothesis). Es war damals auch schon bekannt, dass diese Institut auch an biologischen Waffen arbeitet und das die Amerikanisch Regierung (Anthony Fauci) sog. gain of function Forschung an diesem Institut mitfinanziert und gefördert hat. Warum waren die chinesischen Kommunisten auch wenig kooperativ nach dem Ausbruch? Ich habe dazu viel und früh hier gebloggt.
Die ungewöhnlich Hohe Ansteckungsrate des SARS-CoV-2 Virus war eine weiteres Indiz, dass es wahrscheinlich in einem Labor kreiert wurde.
Das erklärt auch sehr plausibel warum westliche Regierungen so drastische Maßnahmen zur Bekämpfung der Pandemie ergriffen haben.
Turkey's Erdogan (age 70, in power since 2003) threatens to invade Israel, in escalation of harsh rhetoric over Hamas war
What! How close are we to World War III?
What is wrong with the Osman sultan Erdogan? Cognitive decline? Megalomania?
Reminder: Turkey is still a NATO member! Perhaps, this membership finally needs to be suspended for as long as Erdogan is in power!
"Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly threatened to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians as fears of a war with Hezbollah escalate — a shocking comment from a member of NATO, the international alliance of Western nations.
“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ridiculous things to Palestine,” Erdogan said on Sunday during a party meeting that was televised, according to media reports. “Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them.” ..."
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