Monday, September 30, 2024

U.K. gives up coal power, major step toward carbon neutral. Really!

The UK is as stupid as Germany that shutdown its nuclear power plants! Coal is cheap and reliable energy. An energy mix is a strategic and common sense approach! Global Warming is a hoax and Climate Change is a religion!
China is laughing about the UK building hundreds of new coal powered plants in recent times.

French Rafale Marine Jets Deal: ⁠India Multiplies Strike Power Of New Navy with Molly Gambhir

Good news! Could be a game changer! India, a rising superpower is diversifying its military weapons supply away from Russia. The India China rivalry is intensifying!

World's First Bionic Eye Developed for humans is in trial with Molly Gambhir

Good news! Will blindness become a thing of the past?

650,000 Russians have fled country since Ukraine war began, study estimates

Why are not millions of Russians leaving the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible! Why are Russian so lethargic and apathetic! Why don't they oust the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible and do the whole world a favor!
How many more thousands of young Russian men have to die in this war of aggression?

G7 To Sign $50 Billion Dollar For Ukraine

Good news!

Israeli PM's Video-Message Directed At The People Of Iran

Bravo Prime Minister Netanyahu! Will the Iranian people listen and finally get rid of the bloody theocracy ruling over them!

Prager University: Multiculturalism: A Bad Idea

Recommendable!

Russian have started to use glass fiber optic drones in the Russo-Ukrainian war

Bad news!

Putin the Terrible has Russian soldiers killed as they surrender to Ukrainian forces

What a war criminal! What a monster!

First US indoor vertical farm opens, to produce 4 million pounds of with peak-season flavor strawberries year-round with no pesticides

Good news! Welcome the future of agriculture! Way to go! The many benefits are mind boggling!

"... the "world's first farm to grow indoor, vertically farmed berries at scale" opening in Richmond, VA. ...

The Plenty Richmond Farm is designed to produce more than four million pounds (1.8M kg) of strawberries grown indoors vertically in 30-ft-tall (9-m) towers, using up less than 40,000 square feet – or less than a single acre.  ...

With temperature, light and humidity controlled across 12 growing 'rooms,' pollination of plants has also been engineered to be more efficient than bees. ...

“The Plenty Richmond Farm is the culmination of 200 research trials over the past six years to perfect growing strawberries with consistent peak-season flavor indoors year-round. ...” ...

The Richmond farm uses 97% less land and up to 90% less water than conventional farming, eradicates the use of pesticides, and the controlled environment and shorter supply chain will also lower pathogenic risk to crops. ..."

First US indoor vertical farm opens, to produce 4M lb of food year-round



Chart of the day

Gerontocracy in Austria (other Western countries or Japan may be similar)! In 2024, 54% of citizens are over 50 years old.
Blue shaded area represents citizens (eligible to vote) over 50 years old. (Source)



Moldovan Elections to Spotlight Decline of Support for Russia

Good news!

"Presidential elections in Moldova scheduled for October 20—the first since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine—will show how much influence Moscow still wields in the country. Before the war, Russia’s position was fairly strong. However, integration with Europe is now even supported by those Moldovan politicians who were previously considered to be Kremlin puppets. ..."

Moldovan Elections to Spotlight Decline of Support for Russia - Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace "Amid the war in Ukraine, almost every politician in Moldova wants to avoid being seen as strongly pro-Russian. But public support for Russia remains significant."

The new TEPA agreement between the EFTA and India breaks with traditional trade agreements to accommodate Indian mercantilism

Good news! India, a rising superpower!

"... With this in mind, the interest of the EFTA states (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) in a trade agreement with India is understandable. After 16 years and 21 rounds of negotiations, India and the EFTA signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (Tepa) in March led by Switzerland. ...

These industrial policy ambitions [Make in India] also explain why the Indian government declared the investment promotion chapter to be a “sine qua non” in the negotiations. In it, the EFTA states commit to investing 100 billion US dollars and creating one million jobs by 2040. ...

Since the turn of the millennium, the EFTA states have invested almost 11 billion US dollars in India. More than half of this amount has been invested in the last five years. ...

In terms of realpolitik, however, this appears to be a pragmatic bet. Concluding the Tepa before India reaches an agreement with the UK or the EU could give India a competitive advantage. Moreover, the additional expansion of the Swiss free trade network – with Ecuador (2020), Indonesia (2021) and the UK (2021) – promises to make Switzerland more resilient in difficult geopolitical times. Switzerland’s free trade agreements now cover 77 countries and around 55 percent of the global market. ..."

Switzerland Bets on India - Avenir Suisse

Image of the day

The triumvirate of the Dimocratic Party! In one picture, the worst this party has offered since 2009!




Far-right party founded by former Nazis wins Austrian election. Really!

Only a Jewish news media outlet can come up with such an utter nonsense headline!

Far-right party founded by former Nazis wins Austrian election - Jewish Telegraphic Agency "The leader of the Freedom Party has taken the mantle of “Volkskanzler,” formerly claimed by Adolf Hitler."

FBI to pay more than $22 million in a class-actin lawsuit settlement to 34 female recruits who claimed sexual harassment and hostile work environment at the Quantico training academy . Really!

This settlement is most likely seriously rotten!

I am not familiar with the details of these cases, but I have a strong suspicion the FBI under the demented, senile, and corrupt 46th President very quickly capitulated instead of going to trial so that the public would learn more about the truth and the accused would be able to defend themselves.

What a wonderful way to quickly make money for women and their lawyers! Just claim sexual harassment! Men everywhere are sexually driven beasts and are guilty anyway!

Men watch out in the battle of the sexes! If you look at a woman it is sexual harassment or creating a hostile work environment!

Where all of these cases genuine and substantiated? What was was the evidence? 34 women is a very large number of victims that by itself raises huge doubts and suspicions!

Hopefully, this judge will take a serious look at these cases!
"... The settlement is still subject to approval by a federal judge. But if the payout is approved, it would be among the largest lawsuit settlements in the history of the FBI, the wire service also reports. ..."

Besides money, these women are offered:
"In the settlement announced Monday, the FBI would offer the plaintiffs an opportunity to continue training toward becoming agents and “guaranteed placement,” for those who pass, in one of their top three preferred field offices, the Associated Press also reports."

More strange things:
"The suit follows sexual misconduct claims against several senior FBI officials, who were identified in an Associated Press investigation and who quietly left the bureau with full benefits even after allegations against them were substantiated"

"... Filed in 2019, the lawsuit contends that female recruits had been subjected to a hostile working environment in which they were judged more harshly than their male peers and “excessively targeted for correction and dismissal in tactical situations for perceived lack of judgment” and subjective “suitability” criteria. ...
One of the women said she was admonished to “smile more” and subjected to repeated sexual advances. Another said that an instructor leered at her and stared at her chest, “sometimes while licking his lips.” ..."

FBI to pay more than $22 million to 34 women who claimed sexual harassment at training academy | Just The News

More evidence how rogue and unlawful the 46th President has been!

Beside being a lifelong pathological and serial liar and senile, demented and corrupt, the 46th President engaged in all sorts of rogue and unlawful activities.

The 46th President certainly tried to transform the U.S. into a banana republic!

Just a few examples that come to mind:
  1. The massive illegal immigration across the southern border
  2. The enormous depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
  3. The unprecedented and repeated acts of massive student loan forgiveness in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision
Anyway, here is another rogue activity:
"The Goldwater Institute filed a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court this month challenging the Biden Administration’s unlawful removal of several members from Boards of Visitors, which oversee America’s military academies. These boards are responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy, and providing recommendations for Congress and the president. By law, board members are given three-year terms and cannot be removed by the president. Despite this, President Biden fired several Trump-appointed board members and introduced “subcommittees” to take over many of the boards’ responsibilities. These changes violate federal law."

American Freedom Network Monthly Litigation Roundup

How flawed is gender ideology?

Lack of reciprocity! If an individual other than me can freely choose to change gender at will, then I can also freely choose which gender I assign to that individual! 

Why do I not e.g. call any individual who changed their biological sex simply transgender. One consequence could be, that legislation would require to have transgender sports, restrooms etc. to address the issue.

Let's hope this human fad and folly will go away quickly!

Perhaps one day in the not so distant future humans will be monosex or have no sex at all thanks to advances in genetics etc. and procreation happens in vitro etc. or longevity will make procreation a thing of the past for humans. However, until then ...

UniCredit’s effort to buy Commerzbank tests a broader project to revive Europe’s vitality, but parochial thinking and myopia prevent it

Bad news!

Unfortunately, the acquisition of the German state-owned Commerzbank has become a matter of national parochialism for Germany and Chancellor Scholz. See also my related blog post here.

"It is a deal that Europe has wanted for a generation: two big banks combining forces across borders, uniting economies and unleashing growth that has long eluded the region. Instead, Italian banker Andrea Orcel’s surprise attempt to combine his UniCredit with Germany’s Commerzbank has turned into a case study on what holds Europe back from keeping pace with the U.S. in economic heft."

The Wall Street Journal What's news

By 2030, data centers in the U.S. may use up 9% or more of electricity and then there is the rest of the world

We need a lot more power generation going forward! Unfortunately, this is old news regurgitated by the WSJ

There is not enough e.g. wind power available after the whole world turns into a doldrums! And wind power is anything but clean and it is an environmental disaster!!!

"The percentage of U.S. electricity that could be used by data centers by 2030, according to the Electric Power Research Institute. Tech companies scouring the country for electricity to power artificial intelligence are increasingly finding there is a waiting list as utilities worry about expanding the overburdened grid."

"... According to a new study released today [5/29/2024] by EPRI, data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030—more than double the amount currently used. This could create regional supply challenges, among other issues.

AI queries require approximately ten times the electricity of traditional internet searches and the generation of original music, photos, and videos requires much more. With 5.3 billion internet users, rapid adoption of these new tools could increase power demands substantially. ..."

The Wall Street Journal What's news

The new Cold War in the Arctic Ocean by Russia and China

Did the Cold War really end around 1990 or was it only transformed?

As long as dictatorships like Russia, China, and Iran are still around the Cold War is not over!

Natural resources and new trade routes are beckoning.

"Nestled high above the Arctic Circle, the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is home to hundreds of polar bears and boasts prime views of the Northern Lights. Now the territory of fewer than 3,000 people is emerging as a front line in Russia and China’s attempts to dominate the Arctic’s trade routes and expand their military presence in the region. Svalbard—a collection of mountains, glaciers and fjords about the size of West Virginia—has an unusual status. A treaty signed in 1920 granted the Norwegians sovereignty but allowed signatory states, including the Soviet Union, to exploit resources and conduct research. But in recent years, this quirk has provided a way for Moscow and Beijing to strengthen their foothold in the Arctic as tensions with the West worsened over the invasion of Ukraine, unsettling Norway and its allies in NATO."

The Wall Street Journal What's news

The Unraveling of Space-Time

Maybe there is another revolution in physics going on! Here is a whole website dedicated to to this proposition!

Where is the next Albert Einstein?

Certainly quantum mechanics, big bang, black holes, gravity seem to be irreconcilable to some extent. Since Albert Einstein, there has been a strong suspicion that something crucial is still missing to explain the cosmos and nature.

Unfortunately, I could not find an executive summary!

The Unraveling of Space-Time | Quanta Magazine

Earth Wind & Fire: Take It to the Sky

Enjoy!

Album cover


Sunday, September 29, 2024

Jeffrey Osbourne - "On The Wings Of Love" (1984, live)

Enjoy!

So wurde Walter Ulbricht der mächtigste Mann der DDR

Sehr empfehlenswert!

Die Sonne macht das Klima! Klimaschau 200

Bravo! Richtig, die Sonnenaktivität ist nicht konstant. Sie unterliegt Fluktuationen und Zyklen, die das Klima auf der Erde erheblich  beeinflussen, wahrscheinlich vielmehr als das lebenswichtige Spurengas CO2. Unser Wissen darüber ist immer noch sehr spärlich!


Why did Nikita Khrushchev Give Crimea to Ukraine?

Very recommendable! However, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for territorial integrity, which Putin the Terrible then violated by his invasion.




Finland President names the 4 conditions that will end the Russia-Ukraine war

Recommendable!

Archaeologists in Denmark Find 50 Viking Skeletons

Good news!

Image of the day

Seven top Hezbollah monster killers less thanks to the Israeli Defense Forces! Bravo!

More details on the very successful Israeli attack on the leadership of Hezbollah in Beirut

Lebanon is such a failed state! The fate of coward and monstrous killers!

Nasrallah was like another Hitler!

A fitting proverb from the Bible (Gospel of Matthew): "Live by the sword, die by the sword"

"Friday's operation was based on intelligence that Hassan Nasrallah would be gathering with other senior leaders in a bunker more than 60 feet beneath the surface of a bustling working-class Beirut neighborhood. Israel’s air force struck the bunker with about 80 tons of bombs, an attack that used a series of timed, chained explosions to penetrate it. Nasrallah's death leaves a void at the top of the world’s most heavily armed nonstate militia and caps a series of killings by Israel that have wiped out nearly an entire generation of Hezbollah leaders."

The Wall Street Journal What's news "Israel’s operational planning for the strike that killed Hezbollah's leader began months ago."

Moody's cuts Israel's rating by two notches from A2 to Baa1 (still investment grade)

What a joke! But this downgrade is serious!

Some news media compared this rating to junk or countries like Kazakhstan, which is kind of spurious! Here is a full list of country ratings by credit ratings agency (but no indication how updated this list is).

"Moody's Ratings (Moody's) has today downgraded Government of Israel's long-term local and foreign-currency issuer ratings to Baa1 from A2. Concurrently, the local-currency and foreign-currency senior unsecured ratings were also downgraded to Baa1 from A2 and the foreign-currency senior unsecured shelf rating and the foreign-currency senior unsecured MTN rating were downgraded to (P)Baa1 from (P)A2. The outlook remains negative."

Moody's cuts Israel's rating by two notches - Globes "The unexpectedly harsh downgrade, driven by the escalation in the north, puts Israel on par with countries like Kazakhstan."





Right-leaning Freedom Party wins Austria election, boosting European rightwing surge

Good news! This result will most likely also influence Germany!

The pendulum of democracy swings, often very slowly, but sometimes mightily! 😊 

Enough of the leftist lunacy that has governed in too many Western countries for far too long!

"Austrian voters handed a first ever general election victory to the far-right Freedom Party on Sunday, vote projections showed, illustrating rising support for hard-right parties in Europe fueled by concern over immigration levels.
The Eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO held a slim lead in opinion polls for months over Chancellor Karl Nehammer's ruling conservative Austrian People's Party (OVP) in a campaign dominated by immigration and worries about the economy. ..."

Far right wins Austria election, boosting European rightwing surge | Reuters

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl attends his party's election campaign kick-off in Graz, Austria, on September 7.


Is climate change part of the new Cold War? You bet!

I think there is a distinct possibility for that!

Western democracies have several powerful enemies (just to name three: Russia, China, Iran). 

According to the Art of War, the best war is fought, when the enemy is defeated or significantly weakened with no shot fired or attacking soldier killed. Propaganda, demagoguery, and indoctrination can be very effective tools in the arsenal of these enemies.

Thanks to the relentless efforts of these enemies, climate change has become a religion and pseudoscience in the all too gullible West. Even many of the best Western scientists have become lemmings.

China, Russia and other enemies could not and do not care less about climate change! 

Cui bono the most from the global warming/climate change hoax and scam?


Israel air force strikes power plants and a port used by Houthi militants in western Yemen

When will the Arab countries come to the aid Israel to defeat Islamist terrorism!

This is the great opportunity for Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States to extend the Abraham Accords and build a prosperous and peaceful Middle East for all citizens!

Finish these monster fanatics together!

Israel strikes Yemen as Lebanon attacks continue – DW – 09/29/2024

This year marks first since 1958 that US held no oil and gas lease sales

Bad news! But fully expected from the senile, demented and corrupt 46th President!

But the 46th President did not mind to deplete the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (I blogged about this subject too).

"... The only lease sale in 2022 was a bit of acreage offered in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, and it resulted in a single bid. ..."

This year marks first since 1958 that US held no oil and gas lease sales | Just The News "If the Inflation Reduction Act hadn't required the Interior Department to hold oil and gas lease sales before offering offshore wind lease sales, there would have been no leases in 2023, either."

Previously unknown Neolithic society in Morocco discovered: North Africa's role in Mediterranean prehistory

Amazing stuff!

"Archaeological fieldwork in Morocco has discovered the earliest previously unknown farming society from a poorly understood period of northwest African prehistory.

This study ... reveals for the first time the importance of the Maghreb (northwest Africa) in the emergence of complex societies in the wider Mediterranean. ...

While the region's importance during the Paleolithic, Iron Age and Islamic periods is well known, there is a significant gap in knowledge of the archaeology of the Maghreb between c. 4000 and 1000 BC, a period of dynamic change across much of the Mediterranean. ...

These results reveal that the site was the largest agricultural complex from this period in Africa outside of the Nile region. All the evidence points to the presence of a large-scale farming settlement—similar in size to Early Bronze Age Troy.

The team recovered unprecedented domesticated plant and animal remains, pottery and lithics, all dating to the Final Neolithic period. Excavation also revealed extensive evidence for deep storage pits.

Importantly, contemporaneous sites with similar pits have been found on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar in Iberia, where finds of ivory and ostrich eggs have long pointed to African connections. This suggests that the Maghreb was instrumental in wider western Mediterranean developments during the fourth millennium BC. ..."

From the abstract:
"The Maghreb (north-west Africa) played an important role during the Palaeolithic and later in connecting the western Mediterranean from the Phoenician to Islamic periods. Yet, knowledge of its later prehistory is limited, particularly between c. 4000 and 1000 BC. Here, the authors present the first results of investigations at Oued Beht, Morocco, revealing a hitherto unknown farming society dated to c. 3400–2900 BC. This is currently the earliest and largest agricultural complex in Africa beyond the Nile corridor. Pottery and lithics, together with numerous pits, point to a community that brings the Maghreb into dialogue with contemporaneous wider western Mediterranean developments."

Previously unknown Neolithic society in Morocco discovered: North Africa's role in Mediterranean prehistory


Previously unknown Neolithic society in Morocco discovered (original news release) "Multi-disciplinary archaeological survey at the site of Oued Beht, Morocco, reveals a previously unknown 3400–2900 BC farming society, shedding new light on North Africa’s role in Mediterranean prehistory."




Figure 6. Section profile from trench 2 showing pit 222, stratigraphic units and associated radiocarbon dates


Revolutionary drug for schizophrenia wins US approval. First novel treatment in seven decades. Several other drugs in clinical trial

Good news! This seems to be a very promising new drug! Possibly a breakthrough!

"... The drug, known as KarXT, targets proteins in the brain known as muscarinic receptors, which relay neurotransmitter signals between neurons and other cells. Activating these receptors dampens the release of the chemical dopamine, a nervous-system messenger that is central to the hallmark symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions.

But muscarinic signalling also modulates other brain circuits involved in cognition and emotional processing. This mode of action provides KarXT with a more comprehensive therapeutic effect than other schizophrenia treatments, which mainly blunt dopamine activity alone.

In clinical trials, KarXT not only alleviated core symptoms of schizophrenia, but also showed signs of improving cognitive function, all while avoiding many of the burdensome side effects commonly associated with older antipsychotics. ...

KarXT is just the first of many next-generation drug candidates designed to engage muscarinic receptors in the brain. Several follow-on schizophrenia therapies are already in or nearing clinical trials, showing promise for improved tolerability and more convenient dosing schedules."

Revolutionary drug for schizophrenia wins US approval "The medication is the first in decades to have a different mode of action than do current drugs, achieving better symptom relief with fewer side effects."





Natura MSR-1: The first molten salt nuclear reactor ever licensed by US NRC

Good news! We need a lot more nuclear power! Unfortunately, this is only a research reactor of a university!

"A molten salt reactor (MSR) is a type of nuclear reactor that uses a molten salt mixture as a coolant and/or fuel. MSRs are considered a promising advanced reactor technology due to their safety and efficiency advantages." (Google search)

"The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted Abilene Christian University (ACU) the construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor called the Natura MSR-1.

This is the first liquid salt-fueled reactor ever licensed by the NRC and the first university research reactor approved in the US in over 30 years. ...

Natura Resources brought together ACU’s NEXT Lab with Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin and Georgia Institute of Technology to form the Natura Resources Research Alliance to license and deploy the MSRR, which will be located at ACU’s Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center, the nation’s first advanced reactor demonstration facility outside of a national lab. ..."

Natura MSR-1: 1st molten salt nuclear reactor ever licensed by US NRC "The new technology aims to meet global demands for energy, medical isotopes, and clean water using molten salt reactors."



A cutaway of the MSR-1 research reactor (Image: Natura Resources) (Source)







Eight Airlines have already Signed up to Starlink for in-Flight WiFi

Good news!

"On Thursday [9/26/2024], Air France announced that it is partnering with Starlink to provide free WiFi to all passengers. That makes Air France the eighth airline to offer this amenity, a group that also includes United Airlines and Qatar Airways. ..."

Every Airline That Has Signed up to Starlink for in-Flight WiFi - Business Insider

Heat-tolerant corals found across Great Barrier Reef

I thought, the Great Barrier Reef was long bleached and dead due to Global Warming/Climate change? Caution: irony.

Nature is a lot more resilient and capable to adopt than all this daily alarmism and hysteria wants us to believe!

"Australian scientists studying coral have identified heat-tolerant individuals at sites spanning the entire Great Barrier Reef. This good news suggests that some corals already have naturally occurring variation that could help them adapt to a warming climate. ...

Australian researchers measured the bleaching thresholds of more than 500 colonies of table coral at 17 different reefs across the Great Barrier Reef. ...

On the Great Barrier Reef alone, there have been five mass coral bleaching events since 2016. Recently researchers have calculated that the Great Barrier Reef has sustained the highest ocean heat in four centuries [???]. ..."

From the abstract:
"Reef-building coral populations face unprecedented threats from climate warming. Standing variation in heat tolerance is crucial for evolutionary processes necessary for corals to persist. Yet, the spatial distribution of heat-tolerant corals and the underlying factors that determine heat tolerance are poorly understood from individual to ecosystem scales. Here, we show extensive variation in the heat tolerance of a foundational coral species complex across the Great Barrier Reef. Thermal thresholds of 569 individuals differed by up to 7.3 °C across scales from meters to >1250 km. Variation in thresholds among reefs was consistent with local adaptation and acclimatization to historical and recent thermal history. However, variation within reefs was sometimes greater than among reefs and largely unexplained by environmental predictors, putative host species, or symbiont communities. This indicates that within-reef heat tolerance differences may be informed primarily by other factors, such as adaptive genomic variation. We anticipate our findings will inform conservation and restoration actions, including targeting individuals for selective breeding of enhanced heat tolerance."

Heat-tolerant corals found across Great Barrier Reef

How remarkable diversity in heat tolerance can help protect coral reefs (original news release) "New research out of Southern Cross University has found previously undocumented variation in coral heat tolerance on the Great Barrier Reef, giving hope that corals’ own genetic resources may hold the key for us to help in its recovery and adaptation."

Heat tolerance varies considerably within a reef-building coral species on the Great Barrier Reef (open access; I presume this is the research article mentioned in the article above, but without link)

Fig. 1: Assessment of coral heat tolerance traits using acute stress experiments.
Fig. 2: Variation in heat tolerance trait metrics in Acropora hyacinthus colonies across sites on the Great Barrier Reef organized from north to south

Secret Hezbollah unit threatens worldwide Jewish institutions and citizens

Very likely, these cowardly killers will not directly attack Israel!

"... The unit is responsible for global terror activities outside of Lebanon and is closely aligned with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Researcher ... described Unit 910 as Hezbollah’s primary operational arm for conducting international attacks. ...

The unit has been involved in several high-profile attacks, including the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and the Jewish community center in Argentina in 1994. In 2012, it carried out a suicide bombing on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria. ..."

Secret Hezbollah unit threatens worldwide Jewish institutions - The Jerusalem Post "Hezbollah’s covert Unit 910 poses a threat to global Israeli and Jewish targets, warn security experts."

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Why wasn't Portugal Conquered by Spain?

Very recommendable!

St. Louis Blues 1929 (Short, Music) Bessie Smith, Jimmy Mordecai, Isabel Washington

Recommendable!

The bloody history of the King James Bible: Great Books Explained

Very recommendable!

Who Was Ludwig von Mises?

Recommendable!

$323 Million Settlement involving about 530 sex abuse victims of the New York city diocese: Sex Abuse in the Church with Palki Sharma

Bad news! The diocese is going bankrupt! The catholic church had way too many sex abuse scandals in the past. Usually, celibacy is blamed.
The pope just visited Belgium, another country where a recent sex abuse scandal by the catholic church was exposed.




The Race to Harness Quantum Computing's Mind-Bending Power

Recommendable! 






Haitian Group in Springfield, Ohio, Files Citizen Criminal Charges Against Trump and Vance

Another case of dubious lawfare against a presidential candidate!

Researchers uncover shared molecular mechanisms across three types of dementia

Good news!

"Researchers have for the first time identified degeneration-associated “molecular markers” – observable changes in cells and their gene-regulating networks – that are shared by several forms of dementia that affect different regions of the brain. Critically, the UCLA-led research ... also identified markers specific to different forms of dementia. The combined findings represent a potential paradigm shift in the search for causes, treatments and cures. ...

They performed single-cell genomic analysis on more than 1 million cells to identify distinct and shared molecular markers in three related conditions: Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and progressive supranuclear palsy. In addition to validating changes previously observed in Alzheimer’s, they identify dozens of cell types whose changes are shared across multiple dementias and several cell types whose changes in disease were specific to a single disorder, many of which had not been previously identified. ...

The researchers:
  • Identified unique changes specific to Alzheimer’s disease and demonstrated that several findings in Alzheimer’s were also observed across the other disorders, identifying targets for therapeutic development.
  • Found that “cellular resilience programs” – molecular mechanisms that support cells in response to injury – activated or failed differently, when comparing the same cell types across disorders.
  • Were surprised to discover that each of the three disorders had changes in cells of the primary visual cortex – the area of the brain that processes visual information and which was thought to be unaffected by dementia. In progressive supranuclear palsy, this discovery revealed previously unknown changes in brain cells called astrocytes.
  • Identified specific changes in the expression of certain tau-related genes and others in progressive supranuclear palsy. These appear to correlate with the unique pattern of brain cell degeneration that is observed in progressive supranuclear palsy.
..."

From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• Perform comparative genomic analysis of AD, bvFTD, and PSP at the single-cell level
• Pinpoint markers and candidate drivers of selective neuronal vulnerability in dementia
• Identify disorder-specific microglia, astrocyte, and oligodendrocyte glial-immune states
• Causal genetic risk impacts disorder-specific gene regulatory networks and cells
Summary
The development of successful therapeutics for dementias requires an understanding of their shared and distinct molecular features in the human brain. We performed single-nuclear RNA-seq and ATAC-seq in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), analyzing 41 participants and ∼1 million cells (RNA + ATAC) from three brain regions varying in vulnerability and pathological burden. We identify 32 shared, disease-associated cell types and 14 that are disease specific. Disease-specific cell states represent glial-immune mechanisms and selective neuronal vulnerability impacting layer 5 intratelencephalic neurons in AD, layer 2/3 intratelencephalic neurons in FTD, and layer 5/6 near-projection neurons in PSP. We identify disease-associated gene regulatory networks and cells impacted by causal genetic risk, which differ by disorder. These data illustrate the heterogeneous spectrum of glial and neuronal compositional and gene expression alterations in different dementias and identify therapeutic targets by revealing shared and disease-specific cell states."

Researchers uncover shared molecular mechanisms across three types of dementia | UCLA "The discovery of genes that marked vulnerable neurons could open options for therapeutic approaches"



Graphical abstract


Photovoltaik, das große, ungenutztes Potenzial beim Mieterstrom. Wirklich!

Mehr Lächerliches aus der Bananenrepublik D.! Balkone zu Kraftwerken!

Wann wird endlich das Frönen des Klimawahns aufhören!

Der Unsinn wurde produziert vom "Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) ist ein privates Wirtschaftsforschungsinstitut, das sich für eine freiheitliche [???] Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsordnung einsetzt."

Großes ungenutztes Potenzial beim Mieterstrom* - Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) "Für eine erfolgreiche Energiewende ist der zügige Ausbau von Photovoltaik (PV) eine Grundvoraussetzung. Auch wenn der Ausbau der Solarenergie derzeit besser als unter früheren Regierungen läuft, bleibt die Zielerreichung bis 2030 eine erhebliche Herausforderung."

Wunderbar! Echt toll! Meine Begeisterung kennt keine Grenzen! (Vorsicht: Ironie)


English for trippers: The shriller, the thriller

 I shrill you not! Catch another krill if you can!

A new Cold War: Pentagon confirms a 'new class' of Chinese nuclear sub sank pierside

We are back in another Cold War! How will it end this time! Younger generations should be very concerned!

The rivalry between the new superpowers China and India intensifies!

"The Pentagon has confirmed the submarine that sank pierside at a Wuhan shipyard is a “new class” of nuclear vessels being developed by the Chinese navy. ...

The submarine’s sinking was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, which credited Tom Shugart, a former US Navy submariner and currently an associate at the Center for a New American Security, a DC think tank, with spotting unusual activity at the shipyard in satellite imagery. ...

The majority of China’s current submarine fleet is non-nuclear powered, but is known to operate at least six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and six nuclear-powered attack submarines, according to the Congressional Research Service ..."

Pentagon confirms a 'new class' of Chinese nuclear sub sank pierside - Breaking Defense "The analyst credited with initially spotting the sub said its location signals a "significant expansion" of China's capacity for nuclear submarine production."

Image of the day

Less than 40 days to election day, the campaign pamphlets get shriller! This is going to be in my mailbox today! 😊



What's behind the ban on cell phones in K-12 schools? Foolishness

How many K-12 schools provide tablet computers or similar devices to each student? Then students could e.g. choose their own learning program at their own speed etc. 

The traditional role of teachers is entirely outdated! Teachers ought to be more like facilitators to encourage each student to learn on their own according to their preferences and capabilities.

Clearly, smart device use should be integrated into children/adolescents education!

Such banning of smartphones seems to be a foolish and counterproductive endeavor! The focus on possible addiction and misuse of social media by students is misguided!

"... States such as Florida, Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina, and Louisiana have passed laws recently to ban or restrict cell phones in K-12 schools, while countless school districts in dozens of other states have implemented policies to limit use. ...

high school students must stow phones in backpacks and use them only between classes and during lunch ...

Mounting research suggests that smartphone use may be fueling the country's mental health crisis among youth ..."

What's behind the ban on cell phones in K-12 schools? | Hub "A growing number of states and schools are now banning or restricting cell phones. Johns Hopkins experts Carol Vidal and Annette Anderson explain the research and weigh in on the controversial policies."

6,2 Prozent des Bruttoinlandprodukts: Russland gibt immer mehr Geld für den Krieg aus

Wann haben die russischen Bürger endlich genug von dem Krieg und dem Wahnsinn und entledigen sich von dem größenwahnsinnigen und Kriegsverbrecher Putin der Schreckliche!

Russland: Militärausgaben im nächsten Jahr auf Rekordniveau "Das russische Staatsbudget für 2025 sieht eine weitere Erhöhung der Militärausgaben vor, die damit so hoch sein werden wie nie zuvor. Das hat schwerwiegende wirtschaftliche Folgen und ist auch ein politisches Signal."

At least three Canadian provinces are exploring options to expand involuntary treatment of people with substance use disorders

Food for thought! For a classical liberal like me this is a tough decision!

However, a temporary measure like this could potentially help to break the cycle of addiction and offer an opportunity to the individual to make positive changes to his or her life. It is worth a try! 

The 1960/70s era of extreme liberalism (e.g. shutting down mental institutions and involuntary treatment) went too far! Some of the homeless are mentally ill and whether their freedom of being homeless improves their condition is doubtful.

"At least three Canadian provinces are exploring options to expand involuntary treatment of people with substance use disorders, against the advice of some health experts who warn involuntary care for drug use can be ineffective and harmful. Reuters"

"With illicit drug use, homelessness and untreated mental illness reaching a crisis in parts of Canada, the governments of at least three provinces want to treat more people against their will, even as some health experts warn involuntary care for drug use can be ineffective and harmful.

This month, British Columbia's premier, whose party is in a tight race for reelection in the province, said his government would expand involuntary treatment for people dealing with mental illness combined with addiction and brain injuries due to overdose. Some would be held in a repurposed jail. ..."

Global Health NOW: Bird Flu Control Strategies Aren’t Working; U.S. Elections: An Existential Crossroads for Global Health Policy; and Cone of Acclaim

U.S. Elections: An Existential Crossroads for Global Health Policy. Really!

Hysteria and alarmism from the elite Johns Hopkins University! Lousy propaganda and demagoguery!

"The 2024 U.S. elections will shape the future of global health policy, determining whether America will continue to provide crucial leadership to advance global health, according to four members of CUGH’s Advocacy and Communications Committee.
 
Backstory: The U.S. has long played a leading role in global health governance, from the WHO’s establishment in 1948 to the launch of PEPFAR in 2003.
But that changed after the 2016 election ...
Elections’ impact:
The Trump Administration prohibited foreign assistance for reproductive health services, withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, sought to withdraw from the WHO.

Subsequently, the Biden Administration walked back those decisions, seeking to restore U.S. leadership in global health.
High stakes: The future of the nation’s leadership in global health hangs in the balance of this election—and global health stakeholders should raise awareness of candidates’ global health positions for voters, argue the authors."

"... The Trump Administration prohibited foreign assistance for reproductive health services, withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, and pursued populist foreign policies that neglected public health, restricted human rights, and abandoned global governance. ..."

Global Health NOW: Bird Flu Control Strategies Aren’t Working; U.S. Elections: An Existential Crossroads for Global Health Policy; and Cone of Acclaim

Key House chairman to ask Congress to repudiate Democrats’ J6 findings in face of new evidence

Good news! Long overdue! E.g. former Speaker of the House (senile and nutty)  Nancy Pelosi is much more responsible for what happened on January 6th then President Trump ever was!

"... Now the man who has helped uncover much of the contradictory evidence, House Administration Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., is planning to ask his colleagues to take the extraordinarily rare step of officially repudiating the December 2022 findings of the Democrat-led House Select Committee to Investigate the Attack on the U.S. Capitol led by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and ex-Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming. ..."

Key House chairman to ask Congress to repudiate Democrats’ J6 findings in face of new evidence | Just The News "Probes by Just the News and Congress reverse more than a dozen narratives that Democrats first claimed after the Capitol riots, particularly those aimed at former President Trump."

U.S. Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA)


The bipartisan culprits of the January 6th scandal


New Ultrafast Imaging Technique Provides Insight into Combustion Processes

Amazing stuff! Breath taking!

"Now a team of scientists ... have developed an ultrafast imaging technique, called femtosecond laser sheet-compressed ultrafast photography (fsLS-CUP), that can compile videos of those incredibly transient details.

Capturing 250 billion frames per second, the new technique is 20,000 times faster than conventional high-speed imaging cameras, and about 100 times faster than state-of-the-art imaging systems. It has already revealed some of the underlying dynamics involved in the formation of soot particles during combustion. ..."

New Ultrafast Imaging Technique Provides Insight into Combustion Processes - www.caltech.edu "Details of combustion—the chemical reactions that take place when, for example, a flame is lit—are fleeting and, therefore, difficult to study. But scientists would like to better understand the complex processes that occur in those billionths of seconds, not only to make engines more efficient but also to shed light on how candle flames, cars, and airplanes produce gases and particles that are harmful to humans and the environment."



Fig. 1: fsLS-CUP for time-resolved 2D imaging of femtosecond laser-induced flame signals.


Soot is a major contributor to global warming, the number two behind carbon dioxide in terms of its impact on climate. Really!

If true, then is soot not actually the main causal factor and not CO2?

If true, then the term anthropogenic climate change would make a more sense!

Keep in mind: Global Warming is a hoax and Climate Change is a religion! It is being used as a pretext by Big Government and the elite to interfere with our lives. It is among the greatest scams and scandals of the last 30 years!

"Soot is a major contributor to global warming, thought to be number two behind carbon dioxide in terms of its impact on climate."

New Ultrafast Imaging Technique Provides Insight into Combustion Processes - www.caltech.edu

Tokyo housing vacancies rise with record 646,800 empty homes

The effects of an aging and shrinking population?

"There were 646,800 vacant homes across the 23 wards of central Tokyo last year, the highest number in data going back to 1958, according to an Interior Ministry survey published Wednesday.

The ministry surveys Japan's housing stock every five years. The 2023 survey put the percentage of vacancies in central Tokyo at 10.9%, up from 10.4% in 2018. ..."

Tokyo housing vacancies rise with record 646,800 empty homes - Nikkei Asia "Growing crisis fuels government push to fill unoccupied residences"

Mindestens zwei schwere Angriffe auf Pflegepersonal und Ärzte in deutschen Krankenhäusern in diesem Jahr

Typisch Bananenrepublik D! Barbaren an der Tür wie die Römer schon sagten!

Wann werden permanent Polizeibeamte oder Sicherheitspersonal in Notaufnahmen gebraucht?

Anscheinend wurden die Taten von ausländischen Einwanderern (u.a. aus Libanon, Serbien) begangen. Die mediale Berichterstattung druckst herum zum Hintergrund der Täter! Diese falsche Leisetreterei schadet allen zivilisierten Einwanderern!

Ganz nach dem Motto der schrecklichen SED Kanzlerin Merkel: Wir schaffen das!

Angriff auf Pflegepersonal in Essen: "Schwer fassbarer Zivilisationsbruch" "Seit Jahren gilt die Stadt Essen als Clan-Hochburg. Immer wieder kommt es zu Razzien und Tumulten. Doch dieses Mal sei es etwas anderes, heisst es vor Ort."

Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut strike, Islamist terrorist group confirms

Good news! Bravo! One monster killer less! Have no mercy with men like Nasrallah!

A fitting proverb from the Bible (Gospel of Matthew): "Live by the sword, die by the sword"

Just on 9/22/2024 I have speculated here how long this man would survive! 

Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut strike, group confirms | CNN

A portrait of a monster killer holier than thou. What if his name was Hitler?