Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance (1969)

Enjoy! Blessed are the peacemakers! All we are saying ...

Make America like California? Biden's most 'radical' policies

Recommendable! California, Here I (Biden) Come!

Earth's climate is 'cyclical' as new study claims an ice age is coming

Recommendable! Caution: Professor Ian Plimer has been conveniently labelled a Climate Change denier!

We still know very little about the sun, our climate, and our planet! Anyone (including scientists), who tells you otherwise is a charlatan!

Resurfaced footage shows Democrat celebs trying to overturn 2016 electoral college vote

Very recommendable! You have to love the people from Down Under sometimes when they are spot on! The Dimocratic Party and their supporters showing off their hypocrisy!

Milton Hershey: The Chocolate King

Recommendable!

Broken promises: How Singapore lost trust on contact tracing privacy

Singapore is a much celebrated as an advanced city state, even as a window into the future! However, there are also unmistakable signs of Big Government at work! Let's find out how the people of Singapore will deal with the issues of Leviathan and betrayal by Big Government.

"For Singaporeans, the covid-19 pandemic has been closely intertwined with technology: two technologies, to be specific. The first is the QR code, whose little black-and-white squares have been ubiquitous all over the country as part of the SafeEntry contact tracing system rolled out in April and May.  ...

There’s also TraceTogether, an app that launched in March 2020. It uses Bluetooth to ping close contacts; if two users are in proximity, their devices trade anonymized and encrypted user IDs that can be decrypted by the Ministry of Health should one person test positive for covid-19. ... Private data being used by police

Earlier this month, it emerged that the government’s claim was false. The Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that data could actually be accessed by the police for criminal investigations; the day after this admission, a minister revealed that such data had, in fact, already been used in a murder investigation. ...

These revelations triggered public anger and criticism, not necessarily because Singaporeans are particularly privacy conscious—in fact, state surveillance is largely normalized in the country—but because people felt they’d been subjected to a bait-and-switch. ..."

Broken promises: How Singapore lost trust on contact tracing privacy | MIT  Technology Review Guarantees that Singaporean phone data would only be used to fight covid-19 were hollow. The implications could stretch beyond the country’s borders.

The hottest year baloney again with a precision of two decimal places

Recommendable! Supposedly, the year 2020 was one of the hottest years ever!

There lies, damned lies, and statistics!

"... As those who survived even high school statistics know, if you measure two things to one decimal place then multiply them together, you may well get a result with two decimal places. For instance 4.2 times 5.6 is 23.52. But unless the inputs were exact, that is, they are known to have been 4.20 and 5.60, their product is actually less precise than either initial number; it is the uncertainties that multiply not the certainties.

Suppose for instance the inputs have been rounded to one decimal place and the range of real possible starting values stretches from 4.16 to 4.24 for the first and 5.56 to 5.64 for the second. And if you multiply the two lower boundary numbers and the two higher boundary numbers, that is, 4.16 times 5.56 and 4.24 times 5.64, the range of results goes from 23.05 to 23.91. Meaning suddenly the uncertainty is not one decimal place, let alone two, but a whole number. ...

For instance Spain, which just set an all-time record low temperature and suffered a massive, lethal snowstorm. ... China also experienced a massive cold spell including an all-time record low in Qingdao and Beijing’s lowest Jan. 7 low in over half a century. Iran had lethal snowfalls.

Going back to “pre-industrial times” is another major piece of statistical legerdemain that ought to be called out, and not only because we do not know what the temperature of any place was to a decimal place and for almost the entire land surface, and the entire ocean, we have only proxies involving wild uncertainty. ...
The total surface of the Earth, land and sea, is about 500 million square kilometers, 70% of it water. So if you took 500 million evenly spaced measurements every day, without which it’s hard to claim you know what the “average” temperature was for the year, you’re still only sampling one square centimetre per square kilometer for one minute out of 1440 each day. Which is one ten-billionth spatially and less than one one-thousandth temporally, which multiplies together to one-trillionth of the actual temperature being read. To claim on that basis to know it to two decimal places and declare a tie is worse than fatuous."

As hot as two decimal places | Climate Discussion Nexus

President Trump's Move to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac falters

Bravo President Trump! Another one of his achievements, even though he did not ultimately succeed in his first term! Both federal banks have a long history of failure and disaster! The federal government has no business to be involved like that in the financial/mortgage markets!

"The Treasury Department has decided not to restructure the taxpayers’ stake in the two mortgage giants, effectively ending the Trump administration’s push to ensure that they are eventually returned to private hands. ...
Instead, Mr. Biden would focus on ways to use the companies to boost housing affordability and promote homeownership, the advisers said. ..."

Fannie, Freddie Taxpayer Stake Won’t Be Restructured Under Trump - WSJ

Israel Vaccine Data Suggests Decrease in Covid-19 Infection Rate After First Dose

Good news! Israel is the world leader with the highest per capita vaccination (I blogged here about it)

"Early data from Israel suggests Covid-19 infection rates began to decrease among a group of vaccine recipients two weeks after they received the first shot of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE ’s vaccine, offering important insights to other countries as they roll out their own campaigns. The small country—whose roughly nine million population ... has vaccinated nearly a fourth of its population in just under a month, the first country to hit that mark as it fights an upsurge in new infections.

Israel’s largest health-care provider, Clalit Health Services, compared test positivity rates among 200,000 people over 60 who received the vaccine with 200,000 that didn’t. Until day 14, there was little difference between the two groups. But after that, the data showed a 33% fall in infection rates among those who had already been vaccinated compared with those who hadn’t."

Israel Vaccine Data Suggests Decrease in Covid-19 Infection Rate After First Dose - WSJ The early data, indicating a 33% decline, could offer lessons to other countries rolling out vaccination campaigns

Die Politische Ökonomie des Brexit: Ein Rückblick von Roland Vaubel

Sehr empfehlenswert! Eine gute Zusammenfassung, wie es zum Brexit kam! Der Artikel ist auch sehr lehrreich im Hinblick auf andere Länder, die die EU vielleicht demnächst auch verlassen könnten.

"... Dabei wird meist übersehen, dass  sich der britische Unmut über die EU schon über längere Zeit aufgebaut hatte. Denn die Briten waren seit den neunziger Jahren immer wieder in wichtigen Fragen im Rat und Parlament überstimmt worden. Meistens ging es dabei um europäische Arbeits- und Finanzmarktregulierungen, d.h., Eingriffe in die Vertragsfreiheit. Die Regulierungen der EU zwangen Großbritannien, die restriktiveren Regulierungen anderer Mitgliedstaaten, insbesondere Frankreichs, zu übernehmen. ...
In der Politischen Ökonomie wird diese Methode als “Strategy of Raising Rivals’ Costs” bezeichnet. Sie dient der Mehrheit der regulierungsfreudigsten Länder dazu, ihre relative Wettbewerbsfähigkeit zu verbessern. Weil dabei der Deregulierungswettbewerb entfällt, steigt das Regulierungsniveau auch in den zur Mehrheit gehörenden Staaten. ...

Ein Musterbeispiel für die Strategy of Raising Rivals’ Costs war im übrigen die EU-Folgerechtsrichtlinie (2001). Sie verpflichtet den Kunsthandel (Galerien und Auktionshäuser), einen bestimmten Prozentsatz des Verkaufserlöses an die Künstler oder ihre Erben zu zahlen. Das Folgerecht wurde zuerst als “Droit de Suite” in Frankreich, dann in den meisten damaligen EU-Staaten eingeführt – aber nicht in Großbritannien mit seinen berühmten Londoner Auktionshäusern Sotheby’s, Christie’s und Phillips. Die Briten wehrten sich, aber Frankreich setzte die Richtlinie mit qualifizierter Mehrheit durch.

In britischen Zeitungen wurde ausführlich über diese Niederlagen berichtet, in deutschen meines Wissens nicht. Es gibt eben keine europäische Öffentlichkeit. ..."

Die Politische Ökonomie des Brexit: Ein Rückblick - Prometheus

150 Jahre deutsche Reichsgründung

Die Wochenzeitung Die Junge Freiheit feiert seit ein paar Wochen das 150igste Jubiläum der deutschen Reichsgründung!

Dazu benutzt die Wochenzeitung ständig folgendes, bekannte Gemälde:

Die Kaiserproklamation zur Reichsgründung 1871 im Spiegelsaal von Versailles war wahrscheinlich eine der dümmsten politischen Entscheidungen der deutschen Geschichte! Das war sicherlich nicht eine der grössten Leistungen von Otto von Bismarck! Wieviel hat das auch zum Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkrieges beigetragen?

150Jahre

Geisterbekämpfung im 150igsten Jubiläumsjahr des Deutschen Reichs

Sehr empfehlenswert, aber auch sehr einseitig! Preußen und Bismarck weitgehend auf Blut und Eisen zu reduzieren ist nicht fair! Die "unreflektierte Staatsgläubigkeit" der Deutschen geht weit zurück in der Geschichte, lange vor Bismark!

"... Zwar haben die Eltern des Grundgesetzes föderalen und subsidiären Elementen wieder sehr viel mehr Raum zugestanden, aber hier sind in den letzten Jahrzehnten vielerlei Kompetenzen aus Bequemlichkeit an die zentralstaatliche Gewalt zurückgeflossen. ...
rotzdem wirken die Verwerfungen erheblich nach, die sich durch das Eisen und Blut-Reich in unserem Land ergeben haben: im verlorengegangenen Selbstbewusstsein der Städte und Regionen wie in einer flügellahmen Zivilgesellschaft und natürlich in unreflektierter Staatsgläubigkeit."

Geisterbekämpfung im Jubiläumsjahr - Prometheus

Gottfried Curio zur Instrumentalisierung der Kapitol-Stürmung

Empfehlenswert!

Unusual Photos of Golda Meir meeting with Anwar Sadat

These photos were taken when the courageous president of Egypt Anwar Sadat visited Israel after the Yom Kipur war! "On 19 November 1977, Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel officially when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve a comprehensive peace to the Arab–Israeli conflict, which included the full implementation of UN Resolutions 242 and 338." (Source). Both, Golda Meir and Anwar Sadat had a very jovial exchange when they met in person for the first time during his historical trip to Israel.

Lockdowns shut down Mom and Pop businesses en masse across the United States

The side effects or collateral damage by authoritarian and wrong government policies to deal with the pandemic are enormous and are probably far outweighing their presumed benefits! These effects are devastating to say the least in response to a fairly harmless virus!

"... Yelp ’s Local Economic Impact Report found that, from March 1 through Aug. 31, nearly 100,000 businesses listed on Yelp had closed permanently due to the pandemic, an average of more than 500 a day. ...

Consider restaurants, America’s second-largest source of private employment. According to the National Restaurant Association, 110,000 have permanently closed and more than 500,000 are “in an unprecedented economic decline.” In November alone, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, restaurants and bars lost 17,400 jobs as new state lockdowns took effect. ...
In addition to destroying the accomplishments of thousands of American entrepreneurs and the jobs they create, lockdowns are forcing retail to consolidate around large national brands, which are better positioned to survive the pandemic. ..."

Lockdowns Starve Mom and Pop - WSJ Paying customers are the best stimulus for any small business.

Researchers propose using electrosensing algorithm to improve underwater navigation

Recommendable! Amazing stuff!

"... Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich proposed modeling the way in which weakly electric fish perceive their environments. They say that their algorithm, which observes objects via electrosensing, could be used to improve the capabilities of underwater robots. ...
weakly electric fish like the knifefish and elephantnose fish ... sense their environment via electric fields, detecting and locating targets based on the distribution of electrical current over their skin. ... These fish have specialized electric organs that discharge small voltages into the surrounding water, creating their own personal electric fields. Nearby objects cause slight disruptions to these fields, which the fish detect with sensitive organs on their skin called electroreceptors. ... 
To test their recognition algorithm, the authors simulated a fish with 1,024 electroreceptors evenly distributed throughout its body that made three circular orbits around an object. ..."

Researchers propose using 'electrosensing' algorithm to improve underwater navigation | VentureBeat

Here is the respective research paper:

Multi-scale Classification for Electrosensing (unfortunately, the abstract is very abstract and does not explain their research very well)

Älteste Malerei der Menschheit auf der indonesischen Insel Sulawesi

Amazing stuff!

"... Nun ist in „Science Advances“ ein 2017 auf der indonesischen Insel Sulawesi in der Leang-Tedongnge-Höhle entdecktes Bild eines lebensgroßen Wildschweins mittels Uran-Isotopenanalyse auf 45.500 Jahre Alter datiert und zur ältesten Höhlenmalerei der Welt erklärt worden ..."

"Indonesia harbors some of the oldest known surviving cave art. Previously, the earliest dated rock art from this region was a figurative painting of a Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis). This image from Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 in the limestone karsts of Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi, was created at least 43,900 years ago (43.9 ka) based on Uranium-series dating. ..."

Älteste Malerei der Menschheit auf der indonesischen Insel Sulawesi Steinzeitschwein. Hier hat die Kunst aber Schwein gehabt: In einer Höhle auf der indonesischen Insel Sulawesi wurde die bisher älteste Malerei der Menschheit entdeckt - sie ist auf Anhieb perfekt und formvollendet.

Hier ist der Link zum diesbezüglichen wissenschaftlichen Artikel:

Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi

Solar storms — a threat from space

Very recommendable! We still know very little about the sun, our climate and our planet! Anyone (including scientists), who tells you otherwise is a charlatan!

Global Warming is a hoax! Climate Change is a religion!

Teddy Pendergrass - You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration (Official Audio)

Enjoy! You keep on lifting me higher! You know what you do to me!

How many mice and rats are used in U.S. labs? Controversial study says more than 100 million

Human progress and its victims! You may want to keep this in mind! I have previously blogged e.g. here about this subject.

"The most numerous mammals in U.S. research are also the most invisible. Mice and rats comprise the vast majority of lab mammals, yet no one knows exactly—or even approximately—how many are used in scientific experiments every year. Now, for the first time, someone has attempted to calculate this number using data from U.S. labs, and it’s big: More than 111 million mice and rats are used annually in U.S. biomedical research, according to a new study. That represents more than 99% of all lab animals. ...
The figures are troubling ... because mice and rats are not covered by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which enforces the humane treatment of research animals. ..."

How many mice and rats are used in U.S. labs? Controversial study says more than 100 million | Science | AAAS

Democratic city councilman arrested, charged with eight counts of election fraud

Supposedly there was no election fraud during the November 2020 elections! Well more and more criminal indictments of just that are appearing! Apparently, tight races tempt some candidates to ...

"[LA attorney general] said Zanders allegedly urged 22 people to list vacant lots as their home addresses so he could increase the number of people eligible to vote for him [in November 2020] ... 

Zanders "purposefully manipulated citizens into illegally changing their voter registrations," ...

Zanders won re-election to his third term on the council by just 19 votes. He received 206 votes while his runoff opponent, Claire Bell, received 187 votes ..."

Democratic city councilman arrested, charged with eight counts of election fraud - TheBlaze Louisiana's attorney general said Emanuel Zanders illegally registered nearly two dozen people to vote in his district amid his re-election bid

Ulrike Schielke-Ziesing (AfD) kritisiert scharf die deutsche Rentenversicherung

Empfehlenswert! In der Bananenrepublik Deutschland lässt es sich gut leben!

The Sutton Hoo Helmet explained by curator

Amazing stuff! Astonishing details about this famous helmet!

BREAKING: POTUS Trump declassified large number of documents related to Trump-Russia Collusion hoax

More news that President Trump is becoming a whistleblower in the last days in office! Hopefully, he will release more documents!

Plus another anarchist was arrested by FBI who participated in the January 6th event in the U.S.  Capitol building.

Here is the related Just the News article:

Trump declassifying trove of FBI memos exposing Steele's motivations, ties to impeachment witness | Just The News Once-secret documents will show Steele told FBI he leaked Russia collusion narrative to counteract Clinton email scandal.

MIT professor charged with grant fraud, allegedly accepted $29 million from China

This is quite an eye catching headline! An MIT mechanical engineering and nanotechnology professor? Even the president of MIT L. Rafael Reif saw it necessary to come out with a statement in response to that!

One has to suspect that the infiltration/subversion of Western countries by the Communist Party of China goes much further/deeper and is much more pervasive! Unfortunately, many honest Chinese researchers probably will now be more scrutinized.

"An MIT professor who allegedly hid his relationship with the Chinese government while securing millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. and abroad was arrested and charged with fraud on Thursday, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.

Gang Chen, 56, of Cambridge was charged by criminal complaint with wire fraud, failing to file a foreign bank account report and making a false statement in a tax return.

Over the past eight years, Chen has allegedly received $19 million in U.S. federal grants and $29 million in foreign funding, and did not disclose his work with China to MIT or the U.S. government. ...
but [the professor] actively worked to further the goals of the Chinese government while employed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ... Chen, an expert in nanotechnology "

MIT professor charged with grant fraud, allegedly accepted $29 million from China

Distressing news about Professor Gang Chen President Reif updates the community about Chen, a widely respected scholar and faculty member, regarding his arrest on allegations of federal grant fraud.

Houston police officer resigns after being linked to U.S. Capitol takeover

This certainly does not look like mob violence or an armed rebellion or a riot or an insurrection!

This Houston Police Department police officer appears to be the child of or an immigrant from Vietnam given his last name.

"The Houston police officer who may face federal charges for participating in the Capitol takeover resigned Thursday, ahead of his disciplinary meeting with HPD Chief Art Acevedo, officials said.

The officer, Tam Pham, was placed on administrative leave Wednesday.

Pham, an 18-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, was believed to have attended the insurrection and entered the Capitol building, Acevedo said this week. ..."

Houston police officer resigns after being linked to Capitol takeover - HoustonChronicle.com (behind paywall)

Why is INDIA the 2nd biggest SOFTWARE Power in the WORLD?

Very recommendable! Do you remember the Y2K problem? It made India's software industry big bucks!

From my own experience, I want to add that there are many very talented and capable Indian female software developers. During my professional career, I had the great opportunity to work with some of them.

Inside The Capitol Rotunda Riot — What Actually Happened

This certainly does not look like mob violence or an armed rebellion or a riot or an insurrection!

The hidden meanings of yin and yang

Recommendable! Short and sweet like yin and yang! :-) Be flexible, go with the flow, but not always!

Texas Woman Who Bragged About Ballot Harvesting Arrested for Fraud

What do we may learn here:

1. Election fraud is probably committed by both parties. Therefore, neither party really questions the other parties election integrity violations. However, in November 2020 the Dimocratic Party most likely resorted to election fraud on a massive, unprecedented scale and the Republican Party was to coward to challenge it
2. It was the Texas Attorney General who indicted this woman not federal law enforcement. Why is federal law enforcement not investigating?
3. This one female suspect claimed she could deliver at least 5,000 votes. That is a lot of votes, if it comes to close races. 

"... Raquel Rodriguez was filmed during an undercover project by Project Veritas, a nonprofit journalism watchdog group. She said on video footage released last year that she could deliver “at least 5,000” votes “county-wide” for $55,000 in cash and that would hire her “entire team.” ...
Rodriguez was charged with five felonies: election fraud, illegal voting, unlawfully assisting people voting by mail, and unlawfully possessing an official ballot.

She could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Republican congressional candidate Mauro Garza, who hired Rodriguez, told The Epoch Times last year that he didn’t endorse or support any wrongdoing. ...
Renee Yanta, another Republican candidate who Rodriguez said hired her, didn’t return an inquiry, nor did Lis Campos, a Democrat. ..."

Texas Woman Who Bragged About Ballot Harvesting Arrested for Fraud

Google trained a trillion-parameter AI language model

Recommendable! This is a gigantic model! It can handle 101 languages!

The two key improvements are:

"... In deep learning, models typically reuse the same parameters for all inputs. Mixture of Experts (MoE) defies this and instead selects different parameters for each incoming example. The result is a sparsely-activated model -- with outrageous numbers of parameters -- but a constant computational cost. However, despite several notable successes of MoE, widespread adoption has been hindered by complexity, communication costs and training instability -- we address these with the Switch Transformer. We simplify the MoE routing algorithm and design intuitive improved models with reduced communication and computational costs. ..."

Of course, the must feel good and silly author of this article could not resist to spare/indoctrinate the reader with the ideologies of the day:

"... Unfortunately, the researchers’ work didn’t take into account the impact of these large language models in the real world. Models often amplify the biases encoded in this public data; a portion of the training data is not uncommonly sourced from communities with pervasive gender, race, and religious prejudices. [totally exaggerated fears] ... This bias could be leveraged by malicious actors to foment discord by spreading misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies that “radicalize individuals into violent far-right extremist [what about leftist extremists?] ideologies and behaviors,” according to the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. ..."

Google trained a trillion-parameter AI language model | VentureBeat

Here is the link to the respective research paper:

Switch Transformers: Scaling to Trillion Parameter Models with Simple and Efficient Sparsity

House Joint Resolution 12 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the number of terms that a Member of Congress may serve

Please support this important and sorely missing amendment to the U.S. Constitution! 

If the the presidency of Donald J. Trump has taught us anything, it is that the Founding Fathers and Mothers never wanted lifelong career politicians to run our country! George Washington himself set the example by refusing a third presidential term!

Apart from the term limited U.S. presidency, Term limits for our elected representatives are actually quite common throughout the United States, but to this day the members of the U.S. Congress have refused to accept term limits for themselves! E.g. nine out of the 10 biggest cities impose term limits on mayors and/or council members (source).
I have blogged e.g. here on this subject!

H.J.Res.12 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the number of terms that a Member of Congress may serve. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Despite the Capitol violence, this Israeli town is still named after President Trump

Jewish Telegraph Agency sinks deeper into Trump Derangement Syndrome! It is absolutely shameful!

Remember, President Trump was the first U.S. President who finally moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel after almost three decades of empty promises from his predecessors! It was a historical and momentous decision by President Trump against enormous opposition! Without President Trump there would probably be no Abraham Accords (I blogged about it e.g. here, here, here, here)!

Despite the Capitol violence, this Israeli town is still named after Donald Trump - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Savitri and Satyavan: The legend of the princess who outwitted Death

Recommendable! What a lady! "Savitri is so beautiful and pure, she intimidates all the men in the vicinity. When she reaches the age of marriage, no man asks for her hand, so her father tells her to find a husband on her own. She sets out on a pilgrimage for this purpose and finds Satyavan, the son of a blind king ..." Indian story telling is captivating similar to Western ancient stories! See also the respective entry in Wikipedia.

Die Bundesregierung und ihr verfassungswidriges Gesetz mit Ramin Peymani

Empfehlenswert! Die schleichende Abschaffung der individuellen Freiheit in der Bananenrepublik Deutschland mit SED Kanzlerin Merkel!

George Papadopoulos reflects on President Trump suggests he become a whistleblower

Will President Trump release a lot of heretofore classified documents before he leaves office? Hopefully, he will do so! Can you imagine President Trump becoming a whistleblower?

This is perhaps one of the major reasons President Trump's opponents want him out of the office as fast as possible!

Parler CEO tells Tucker Carlson they are fighting for survival after mass Big Tech ban

And this happened in the United States of America! The Founding Fathers and Mothers are fuming! I blogged here about Neo McCarthyism in America!

Doctors in Israel receive now second Covid-19 vaccination shot

Not only is Israel a world leader in immunizing its population against Covid-19 (I blogged here about it), now Israeli doctors even receive a second shot to increase the effectiveness to 95%.

Federal Prosecutors Obtain First Indictments In Capitol Hill Unrest within a few days

So within less than one week federal prosecutors are already obtaining indictments!

More than two months after the November 2020 general elections, We The People are still waiting for any federal investigations into many substantiated allegations of severe election fraud!

"Federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia have obtained the first indictments of individuals for activities relating to the Jan. 6 violent breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Mark Leffingwell has been charged with assaulting a federal police officer ..."

Federal Prosecutors Obtain First Indictments In Capitol Hill Unrest 

Brazil reports more modest 50.4% efficacy for China's Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine

Update of 1/14/2021

The New York Times is now also reporting about it:

Disappointing Chinese Vaccine Results Pose Setback for Developing World Brazil says CoronaVac has an efficacy rate just over 50 percent, much lower than previously announced. More than 380 million doses have already been ordered.

Original Post

How many countries are already using the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine? 

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates were one of the first countries to approve of a Chinese vaccine, if I am not mistaken (see e.g. here). It appears there are even two different Chinese firms producing a Covid-19 vaccine, i.e. Sinopharm and Sinovac. The Sinopharm vaccine is approved in Bahrain, the Sinovac vaccine in Brazil.

Coronavirus: Brazil finds China’s Sinovac vaccine to be less effective than previous data shows | South China Morning Post The new rate is a result of patients who displayed ‘very light’ symptoms being included, says Brazilian research institute that conducted the clinical trials

New CoronaVac ‘general efficacy’ figure from the Butantan biomedical centre comes after pressure for more transparency amid piecemeal disclosure and delays

Till Eulenspiegel erlebt die Coronakrise in Deutschland

Es lebt sich richtig gut in der Bananenrepublik Deutschland unter der SED Kanzlerin Merkel! Im Land der Blinden ist der Einäugige König! Die Gartenzwerge tanzen und frohlocken ...

"Noch acht bis zehn Wochen, meint die Kanzlerin, die erkennbar nicht auf die kundigen Hände eines Friseurs angewiesen ist, dem der Laden zugesperrt wurde. Ihrer kommt ins Amt. Sollte einer zu mir kommen, riskiere ich Strafe. Es ist wie im alten Rom: Die Herrscher trugen gepflegtes Haar. Die Untergebenen wurden geschoren. Bald bleibt mir nur der Griff zum Schergerät. ... Ich hatte kürzlich einen offenen Friseurladen entdeckt und bin zwei Tage später hoffnungsfroh hingewackelt; meine Matte nervt. Aber es war kein Friseur, sondern ein Perückenmacher. Der darf sein Geschäft offen halten. Die Perücke ist medizinischer Bedarf. Aha, man lernt nie aus.

... Glücklicherweise hat auch mein geschätzter Blumenhändler auf. Denn er führt Tierfutter, also ist er „systemrelevant“. Sein Tierfutter-Sortiment ist reichhaltig; man hat die Wahl zwischen einem Dutzend unterschiedlicher Sorten Meisenknödel und verschiedenen Variationen und Packungsgrößen Streufutter für Singvögel. ..."

Tichys Einblick Newsletter

Wenn die Sonne schweigt - Kalte Sonne

Empfehlenswert! Natürlich ist die Sonne der wichtigste Einfluss auf unser Klima. Und wer glaubt, dass die Sonne jeden Tag so strahlt wie immer irrt gewaltig. Die Sonnenstrahlung unterliegt zyklischen Schwankungen. Klimamodelle modellieren das nur inkorrekt und unvollständig!

We still know very little about the sun, our climate, and our planet! Anyone (including scientists), who tells you otherwise is a charlatan!

Global Warming is a hoax and Climate Change is a religion!

I also recommend to read the English language Wikipedia article on solar cycles.

"Bis Ende des Jahrhunderts 2100 sollte die globale Temperaturerhöhung unter 2 Grad C bleiben, besser unter 1,5 Grad C durch drastisches Reduzieren der CO2 Emissionen. Satelliten-Messungen seit 1979 bis 2020 zeigen einen Anstieg von 0,13 Grad C pro Jahrzehnt, also in den 80 Jahren bis 2100 noch ca. 1 Grad C. Diese Forderung beruht auf Grund der Berechnungen mit Modellen, die allerdings den Einfluss einer veränderlichen Sonnenaktivität, markiert durch die Sonnenflecken, nicht beinhalten. ... In diesem Jahrhundert wird die Zahl der Sonnenflecken stark zurück gehen, mit ihnen einher ein Beitrag zur Verringerung der global gemittelten Temperatur um -0,5 bis – 0,7 Grad C. ... 1684 befand man sich in der stärksten Abkühlungsphase des Maunder Minimums, eine 50 Jahre dauernde Zeit zwischen 1650 und 1700, in der die Aktivität der Sonne sehr schwach war. In dieser Zeit war die Zahl der Sonnenflecken sehr gering, nahezu Null. Die Temperaturen fielen vor allem im letzten Jahrzehnt des 17. Jahrhunderts extrem ab, wobei alle Jahreszeiten davon erfasst waren. ... Die erheblichen Klimaschwankungen in den letzten Jahrhunderten bis 1900 waren sicherlich ohne menschliche CO2 Emissionen entstanden und sind auf natürliche Variabilität des Klimas, hervorgerufen durch die Änderung der Sonnenaktivität, zurückzuführen. ... Empirische Untersuchungen legen nahe, dass die Sonnenfleckenzahlen über den 11-jährigen Schwabe Zyklus hinaus weiteren periodischen Schwankungen unterliegen. Diese periodischen Schwankungen der Sonnenflecken-Intensität sind der Gleissberg-Zyklus von ca. 80- 88 Jahren und der De Vries- oder Seuss-Zyklus von 200-210 Jahren. ..."

Wenn die Sonne schweigt - Kalte Sonne

Hier ist der link zu einem der angeführten wissenschaftlichen Artikel:

Coronavirus: Es fehlt ein umfassendes Überwachungsprogramm in Deutschland

Grüsse aus der Bananenrepublik Deutschland! Nett, das die Schweizer Medien die Schweiz mit Deutschland vergleichen.

Grassiert die mutierte Coronavirus-Variante bereits hundert- oder gar tausendfach in der Schweiz oder in Deutschland? Wir wissen es nicht, denn in beiden Ländern fehlt ein umfassendes Überwachungsprogramm Kommentar. Die Schweiz und Deutschland, aber auch viele andere Länder haben es versäumt, rechtzeitig eine Struktur aufzubauen, um das Eigenleben von Sars-CoV-2 zu kontrollieren.

City of the Future: Singapore by National Geographic

Recommendable, but this video is more than two years old! However, also notice the uniform and boring looks of the high rise residential buildings in Singapore. The city state has been adding to its area through vast land reclamation efforts. It's water catchment sea water desalination is also very impressive. Maybe too much government planning and too little organic, voluntary, and spontaneous growing?

Is the trend to more urbanization really so inevitable as this video suggests? I would argue that the advances in technology suggest otherwise. Take the featured Singapore company Sustenir Agriculture as an example. Their mission is "Our mission is to change food for good by growing impossible produce in impossible places." Well, rural areas are "impossible places" too or are they not? Vertical farming or aquaculture are possible anywhere.

Wireless power supply anyone? Kindergarten and primary school children are learning robotics.

Scientists question is it the flu or COVID?

Caution: If true and confirmed, then disturbing! Do people have the cold/flue or Covid-19? People with flu symptoms are by default tested only for Covid-19? Flu infected counts were unusually low this season?

Pompeiian Sexuality by National Geographic

Recommendable, but too short! Perhaps even still prudish? :-)

Aufbruch für die Außenseiter in der Bananenrepublik Deutschland - Prometheus

Empfehlenswert! Was der Artikel völlig unerwähnt lässt, ist das die Bananenrepublik Deutschland ein extrem Hochsteuerland ist! 

Was der Autor in diesem Artikel beschreibt ist wahrlich nicht neu. Diese Verkrustungen wurden schon in den letzten 20 Jahren des vergangenen Jahrhunderts wiederholt beschrieben. U.a. dank Hans D. Barbier in der einst der freien Marktwirtschaft wohlgeneigten Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung.

"... Doch haben die wirtschaftspolitischen Corona-Hilfen auch gezeigt, was der Staat eben nicht gut kann. Denn staatliche Hilfen kommen hauptsächlich den Insidern des Politikbetriebs in Deutschland zugute, nicht aber den Außenseitern. Um diese auf ihrem Weg aus der Krise zu unterstützen, muss deshalb – nach dem Jahr des Staates 2020 – zur regulären Zeit des Marktes zurückgekehrt werden. ...
Der amerikanische Sozialwissenschaftler Mancur Olson beschrieb das Problem, dass staatliches Handeln über die Jahre hinweg immer mehr bestimmten Insidern zugutekommt. In seinem wegweisenden Werk „Aufstieg und Niedergang von Nationen“ [erschienen 1982, original Titel: The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities] beschreibt er das pointiert: Je länger Nationen existieren, desto mehr verlieren sie ihre wirtschaftliche Dynamik. Der Grund dafür ist, dass es speziellen Interessensgruppen in der Politik gelingt, die Regeln so zu ändern, dass die disruptiven Kräfte, die der Garant für wirtschaftliche Veränderung und Wachstum sind, ausgeschlossen und der Status Quo bewahrt wird. Beispielhaft ist für Olson die britische Demokratie in den 1970er Jahren. ...
Die wirtschaftspolitischen Reaktionen des Staates auf die Pandemie haben das schmerzlich offenbart: Während sich hofierte Insider wie Festangestellte bei großen Konzernen, Beamte und Angestellte des Öffentlichen Dienstes über quasi-Jobgarantien, Corona-Boni, Fortzahlung der Gehälter etc. freuen konnten, wurden Außenseiter wie kleine Selbständige mit Einmalzahlungen abgespeist. Einkommensschwache Bevölkerungsteile, die sich von Gelegenheitsjob zu Gelegenheitsjob hangelten und diese verloren, bekamen gar nichts. ...
Stattdessen braucht es einen Rückbau der Regulierungen und Subventionen, die sich die Insider in den letzten Jahrzehnten angesammelt haben, um ihre Pfründe zu schützen – Privilegien, durch die sie stärker steigenden Wohlstand für alle verhindert haben. Das Baurecht ist eines der fälligen Reformfelder: Bewohner in den attraktiven Städten und Regionen Deutschlands genießen die geringe Arbeitslosigkeit, die hohen Löhne und das Kulturangebot und schützen sich mit Maßnahmen wie Mietendeckel und Mietenstopps, Volksabstimmungen und Reformen, die die Baukosten in die Höhe treiben, gegen zuziehende Familien, Ausländer und Mittellose, die dort ihr Glück suchen ...
Die zunehmende Regeldichte – ob man sich selbständig machen darf oder wie man sein Geld zu verdienen hat – verhindern Umsetzung und oft auch schon Entstehung neuer Unternehmensideen. Die Regulierung des Taximarktes hindert Soloselbstständige daran, Geld zu verdienen, und Einkommensschwächere daran, eine günstige Mitfahrgelegenheit zu nutzen. Die hohen Markteintrittsbarrieren stehen denen oft im Weg, die ihre Leidenschaft zum Beruf machen wollen. Sie schließen kreative Köpfe und Menschen mit Anpacker-Mentalität aus: Wer sich als Blumenliebhaber und Frisurkünstler selbständig machen möchte und auch Einkommensschwachen gute und günstige Produkte und Dienstleistungen anbieten will, beißt schnell auf Granit. Denn angetrieben von den Insidern verlangt der Staat langjährige Berufsausbildungen, die Wettbewerb verhindern und die Kartellgewinne der bestehenden Betriebe schützen."

Das andere, frühere, und mehr bekannte Buch von Mancur Olson:The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups worin er die obigen Betrachtungen ausführlich dargelegt.

Marktwirtschaft '21 – Aufbruch für die Außenseiter - Prometheus

It is McCarthyism all over again, but worse

Amended on 1/12/2021

On 1/12/2021, Greg Kelly on Newsmax TV also likened the current witch hunt against President Trump and his supporters to the infamous McCarty era (see here). He must have read my blog post? ;-)

Original Post

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (Source) George Santayana. Does anybody remember e.g. the House Un-American Activities Committee. The infamous McCarthy era lasted from about 1947 to 1955.

"McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason, especially when related to communism, without any proper regard for evidence. ..." (Source)

I would argue we are living in times that are eerily similar to McCarthyism when it comes to the incessant coup attempts and social/news media distortions against President Trump! The many vicious attacks against President Trump since he announced his candidacy for president are almost unprecedented! They say politics is a combat sport, but this was more like an all out war by all and any means necessary against a President of the United States. The gloves came off very quickly! No Marquess of Queensberry Rules whatsoever were observed by the opponents of President Trump!

Will the United States be militarily challenged abroad in the coming years?

Revised on 1/12/2021

I spoke recently with two ordinary, common Israeli citizens (one of them served in the Israeli Defense Forces), they were both firmly convinced that some country (e.g. China) may well do that in the next 10 years. They cited e.g. overconfidence in their military prowess and complacency on part of the American society. Since I believe the Jewish people with a difficult history of at least 5781 years are like canaries in the coal mine ...

History is replete with examples where once powerful and seemingly unassailable powers were successfully challenged.

With the incoming U.S. president Joseph Biden, who is senile and in mental decline and who might not even last one term, and with internal divisions in the U.S. at a very high level, would this not suggest a good opportunity to test the resolve of the U.S. from the viewpoint of an adversary?

House Democrats introduce 2nd impeachment resolution against President Trump

Is this how the Dimocratic Party, Joseph Biden, and Kamala Harris expect to heal and unite the nation? Another trumped up impeachment of a President of the United States who was relentlessly harassed for four years with multiple coup attempts! The election integrity in the battleground states was never properly and fully investigated!

This is probably one the worst jokes I have ever heard! This like pouring oil on fire!

"The resolution contains a single article of impeachment charging the president with ‘incitement of insurrection’ for his role in the deadly US Capitol attack

‘He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government’"

House Democrats introduce impeachment resolution against Donald Trump | South China Morning Post

Dreht die Politik in Deutschland durch?

Empfehlenswert! Sehr sarkastisch!

"... In den Altenheimen gibt es bei den Hochbetagten viele Todesfälle, aber diese Personengruppe ist sicherlich nicht durch einen generellen Lockdown oder durch Rodelverbote zu schützen.

Die Politik hat beim Schutz dieser Bevölkerungsgruppe versagt, was sich auch darin zeigt, dass es neben hochbelasteten Häusern auch solche mit sehr niedriger Ansteckung gibt. Den Alten unserer Gesellschaft wäre mit gezielten Maßnahmen besser geholfen. ...

Das generelle Versagen übertönen Politiker mit einem Geschrei, das man ohne Übertreibung schlimmer als eine Kakophonie bezeichnen kann. Erste Politiker aus Bayern, der Gemeindetagspräsident Uwe Brandl wollen schon über Handy-Daten kontrollieren, ob ihre Bürger sich zu weit von ihren Käfigen entfernen: Merke: Die Corona-App der Bundesregierung und seiner famosen Digital-Staatsministerin Doro Bär war ein Schlag ins Wasser, aber ein teurer. ...
Die Bürger sind mittlerweile reduziert auf eine Schar Hühner, die von aktivistischen Politikern in die Käfige gescheucht werden. ... Man muss zu solchen Bildern greifen, um das Durchdrehen der Politik zu verstehen. ...

Am Freitag ist Deutschland nur haarscharf an einem Blackout vorbeigeschrammt. Davon war wenig zu lesen, warum auch? Wenn Sie das erführen, würde es Sie nur beunruhigen, möchte man mit dem früheren Innenminister Thomas de Maizière sagen. Ein längerer Blackout würde unzählige Todesopfer und katastrophenartige Zustände fordern;  ... So wird die Bevölkerung auf Katastrophen eingestimmt, die die Politik durch ihre Zerstörung der Strominfrastruktur selbst herbeiführt. Sie zimmert gerade am „Steuerbare-Verbrauchseinrichtungen-Gesetz (SteuVerG)“. Es ist ein Rationierungsgesetz, das totale Blackouts durch zeitweise und regionale Blackouts vermeiden soll. Man kannte das zuletzt aus der DDR.

So torkelt Deutschland führungslos durch die Corona-Krise, die wir noch selbst verschärfen, wir schaffen das schon. Wie lange darf man darüber noch berichten? ..."

Dreht die Politik durch? Die Corona-Maßnahmen sind ein Schlag ins Wasser.

Confucius: Words Of Wisdom

Recommendable! You wish you learn more about Confucius's teachings!

India's World : India's Engagement with Africa

Recommendable! The Scramble for Africa continues, but in the 21st century it is India and China. E.g. India is today the third largest trading partner for  Africa. China does more, but India does better!

India sent an all women police contingent to Liberia!

The United Nations' first all-female peacekeeping force of more than 100 Indian policewomen arrive in Monrovia in January 2007. (Source)

"... Most of them are also mothers and form an all-women unit from India, policing in a country where a 15-year conflict was characterized by sexual violence. Rape, according to the United Nations, remains the No. 1 crime reported to police in Liberia. ..."

Gina Shakespeare: How Much Did Big Tech Influence the Biden Ticket?

Recommendable! Mark Zuckerberg spent over $400 million dollar on the November 2020 election (see also my blog post here)!

Elvis Presley - Can't Help Falling In Love (Audio)

Enjoy! Great recording!

Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Official Audio)

Enjoy! Great recording!

Working from home: 30% say they would quit if forced back to office

Good news! Better air quality! Less traffic congestion! Lot's of time saved for more important things than driving a car to work and much more!

The Global Warming hoax and Climate Change religion exposed again and again!

"Many companies plan to ask their employees to return to the office once a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available later this year.

Good luck with that.

Twenty-nine percent of working professionals say they would quit their jobs if they couldn't continue working remotely, according to an online survey of 1,022 professionals by LiveCareer, an online resume and job search consulting service. ..."

Working from home: 30% say they would quit if forced back to office

The world's biggest lava lamp melts Greenland's ice sheet

Perhaps, there are other natural explanations why the ice sheet of Greenland is melting! 

We still know very little about climate and our planet! Anyone (including scientists), who tells you otherwise is a charlatan!

The Global Warming hoax and Climate Change religion exposed again and again!

"It seems not just one but two giant plumes of lava welling up from the core-mantle boundary nearly 3000 km beneath the surface branch out to form three hot spots near eastern Greenland"

The world's biggest lava lamp | Climate Discussion Nexus

"A team of researchers understands more about the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. They discovered a flow of hot rocks, known as a mantle plume, rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland that melts the ice from below. ..."

Here is the respective research blog:

Newly Discovered Greenland Plume Drives Thermal Activities in the Arctic

Startups are racing to reproduce breast milk in the lab

Good news!

"... For years [Leila Strickland] struggled to keep the project funded, and she came close to abandoning the idea. But in May 2020, Biomilq, a company she had founded, got $3.5 million from a group of investors led by Bill Gates. Biomilq is now in a race with competitors in Singapore and New York to shake up the world of infant nutrition in a way not seen since the birth of the now $42 billion formula industry. ..."

Startups are racing to reproduce breast milk in the lab | MIT Technology Review (behind paywall) Many parents rely on infant formula to feed their newborns. Could cell culture technology produce something closer to human breast milk?

Top Republican U.S. senator Pat Toomey declares President Trump committed 'impeachable offenses'

Oh, this is rich!

One of the many Republican U.S. Senators Pat Toomey calls for a second trumped up impeachment of the President of the United States a few days after the events of January 6/7th 2021.

Toomey used to be the president of the conservative Club for Growth organization before he became a swamp creature in Washington DC. In October 2020, he announced not to run for reelection anymore. Good!

For over two months, this PHONY and COWARD Republican U.S. Senator  has done nothing to challenge the many severe and substantiated allegations of voting irregularities and fraud in Pennsylvania (i.e. in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). He did not object that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania legislated from the bench to change the election rules just before the elections to extend the deadline for mail in votes despite that the power to determine election procedures is solely and exclusively vested in the legislature not in the courts and so on

High time for a third party in the United States and for term limits for all members of the U.S. Congress not only the U.S. President!

Top Republican senator declares President Trump committed 'impeachable offenses' - TheBlaze

Spanien versinkt im Schnee

Ah, die Wunder von Global Warming hoax und Climate Change religion! Wenn Pseudowissenschaft und Realität aufeinander treffen!

"Es ist der heftigste Wintersturm seit einem halben Jahrhundert. Spanien versinkt im Schnee. Während die Menschen in den Städten ihre Langlaufskier anschnallten und sich auf den Straßen Schneeballschlachten lieferten, kämpften die Räummannschaften gegen das Chaos, das der Wintersturm „Filomena“ anrichtete. ..."

Spanien versinkt im Schnee Der Wintersturm „Filomena“ schneidet Madrid von der Außenwelt ab. Die Armee muss helfen. Die Regierung ruft die Bürger dazu auf, zu Hause zu bleiben. Bis Samstagnachmittag werden vier Tote gemeldet.

Heinz: The Ketchup Kings

An amazing biography! Very progressive entrepreneurs! Probably the first global consumer non durables company! Produced pure food long before the unnecessary Big Government Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Unfortunately, the founder of Heinz was in favor of this law. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was not only a steel town of Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon.

"Through his paternal grandmother, Charlotte Louisa Trump, [Henry John Heinz] was a second cousin of Friedrich Trump, and second cousin (twice removed) of 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump." (Source)

The Tempest: Greek Mythology In Art with Waldemar Januszczak

Very recommendable! I can not claim I really new the Renaissance artist Giorgone, a contemporary of Titian, before! This is an early Waldemar Januszczak history of art documentary

eigentümlich frei: Warum der Staat immer mächtiger wird

Sehr empfehlenswert! U.a. Ludwig von Mises Interventionsspirale!

Swexit NOW: Brexit triumph 'tipped to spark EU collapse' as Sweden exit demand grows!

Recommendable, but too short!

Justizministerium: Smartphones sollen verpflichtende Updates bekommen

Wieder so ein Gesetz das keiner braucht und unsinnig ist! Wenig nutzen, viel Bürokratie, wird aber Smartphones sicherlich verteuern!

Justizministerium: Smartphones sollen verpflichtende Updates bekommen - Golem.de Wer sich ein Smartphone oder Tablet kauft, soll nicht nach kurzer Zeit ohne Sicherheits-Aktualisierungen dastehen.

Die wirtschaftlichen Folgen der verfehlten Corona lockdown Politik in Deutschland werden immer sichtbarer

Update of 1/18/2021

"... Seit November gilt abermals ein Lockdown, weswegen etwa Hotels und Pensionen nur Geschäftsreisende aufnehmen dürfen. Dies drückte den Umsatz im November um rund 52 Prozent zum Oktober und um fast 68 Prozent zum Vorjahresmonat. Drei von vier Gastronomen und Hoteliers bangen einer Umfrage zufolge angesichts der Maßnahmen gegen die Corona-Pandemie um ihre Existenz. 75,5 Prozent von 12.000 Betrieben gaben dies an, wie der Deutsche Hotel- und Gaststättenverbandes (Dehoga) jüngst erklärt hatte. ..."

Umsatz im deutschen Gastgewerbe bricht 2020 um 36 Prozent ein Geschlossene Restaurants und Bars haben im vergangenen Jahr für deutlich geringere Umsätze im Gastgewerbe gesorgt. Die Erlöse der Branche sanken im Schnitt um 36 Prozent im Vergleich zum Vorjahr.

Original Post

Hier mal nur zwei signifikante Schlagzeilen aus der Presse vom Freitag dieser Woche (8.1.2021):

Deutscher Automarkt schrumpft um 19 Prozent Das Autojahr 2020 war das zweitschlechteste seit der Wiedervereinigung. Nur ein Autohersteller konnte seinen Absatz auf niedrigem Niveau nennenswert steigern.

Commerzbank stellt noch mehr Geld für Kreditausfälle zurück Eine halbe Milliarde Euro – rund so viel mehr Geld legt Deutschlands zweitgrößte private Bank auf die Seite, um ausfallende Kredite in der Corona-Krise abzufedern. Der neue Vorstandschef räumt auf.

Wer mit Schrotflinten auf Spatzen schießt ...

After decades of effort, scientists are finally seeing black holes—or are they?

Very recommendable! Excellent summary article on black holes research of the past several decades! And it includes alternative theories about black holes and more.

"... Like a bell, the black hole would oscillate at one main frequency and multiple overtones ... The oscillations would quickly fade as the black hole radiated gravitational waves—ripples in the fabric of space itself. ...
In February 2016, experimenters with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), a pair of huge instruments in Louisiana and Washington, reported the first observation of fleeting gravitational ripples, which had emanated from two black holes, each about 30 times as massive as the Sun, spiraling into each other 1.3 billion light-years away. LIGO even sensed the “ring down”: the shudder of the bigger black hole produced by the merger. Teukolsky’s old thesis was suddenly cutting-edge physics. ...
Gravitational wave detectors have spotted four dozen black hole mergers since LIGO’s breakthrough detection. In April 2019, an international collaboration called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) produced the first image of a black hole. By training radio telescopes around the globe on the supermassive black hole in the heart of the nearby galaxy Messier 87 (M87) ... Meanwhile, astronomers are tracking stars that zip close to the black hole in the center of our own Galaxy, following paths that may hold clues to the nature of the black hole itself. ...
The smaller black holes detected by LIGO and, now, the European gravitational wave detector Virgo in Italy have proved heavier and more varied than expected, straining astrophysicists’ understanding of the massive stars from which they presumably form. And the environment around the supermassive black hole in our Galaxy appears surprisingly fertile, teeming with young stars not expected to form in such a maelstrom. But some scientists feel the pull of a more fundamental question: Are they really seeing the black holes predicted by Einstein’s theory? ..."

After decades of effort, scientists are finally seeing black holes—or are they? | Science | AAAS