TheVat

I had noticed (as per the article in The Conversation) that conspiracy theorists like to believe that they're somehow superior to experts, that they are privy to special knowledge due to an unusual degree of insight and intuition. Thinking of that well-known American narcissist who is always telling his followers how his "gut" is amazing and he prefers to listen to that over, y'know, a buncha pencil-necked eggheads. The 7 second zero G theory is perfect for the MAGAnids who like to both hate "elites" and really be part of one.

Better safe than sorry. When out, I will be carrying pitons and climbing rope with me that day, so I can secure myself to the ground if needed. Hopefully that patch of ground won't detach itself in seven seconds. Backup: fire extinguisher to whip out and provide downward thrust if needed. I'm still working on hurricane ties, shear transfer ties and angle iron struts for the house and soft encasement for glassware and ceramics. Still undecided on the old chimney - would it help the anchoring or just wreak more destruction as it resettles? Don't get me started on the litter boxes and commodes - I can only handle so much. (Cling wrap right before the event, maybe?) Also, and please don't mock me with your stifling scientific orthodoxy, but there are many mule deer in the wild area next to our block. If they happen to be leaping when the grav cuts out....I mean, those guys could get pretty far up there in seven seconds on leg thrust....will the G resume full strength right away or slowly turn on like with a dimmer switch? If the former, they will come down on us like 150-250 pound meat bombs. I know some might find this laughable, but they laughed at Fermi and Einstein and that guy with the bongo drums right up until they climbed into the Enola Gay and destroyed Bankok. Or Korea. Or wherever it was - it was someplace where people wore bathrobes all day.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/us-military-trump-greenland/685677/?gift=43H6YzEv1tnFbOn4MRsWYla2FHXUNgrTIgaQRWVp2do&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share (excerpts) The United States is a global superpower, and its military trains for war in every domain. During my years as a military educator, I saw American officers wrestle with any number of scenarios designed to challenge their thinking and force them to adapt to surprises. One case we never considered, however, was how to betray and attack our own allies. We did not ask what to do if the president becomes a threatening megalomaniac who tells one of our oldest friends, Norway, that because the Nobel Committee in Oslo refuses to give him a trophy, he no longer feels “an obligation to think purely of Peace” and can instead turn his mind toward planning to wage war against NATO. As my colleague Anne Applebaum wrote today, Donald Trump’s threatening message to the Norwegian prime minister should, in any responsible democracy, force the rest of the U.S. political system to act to control him. The president is talking about an invasion that would require “citizens of a treaty ally,” as she put it, “to become American against their will,” all because he “now genuinely lives in a different reality.” And yet neither Congress nor the sycophants in the White House seem willing to stop him. The U.S. military is obligated by law, and by every tradition of American decency, to refuse to follow illegal orders. But what about orders that may not be illegal but are clearly immoral and illogical? The president, for example, can order the Pentagon to plan for an invasion of Greenland; such an order would be little more than a direction to organize one more war game. (The military, as it sometimes does during war games, might not even use real place names, but rather use maps that look a lot like the North Atlantic as it organizes an invasion of “Verdegrun” or something.) But after years of experience with American military officers, I believe that even these hypothetical instructions will sound utterly perverse to men and women who have served with the Danes and other NATO allies. Denmark not only was our ally during the world wars of the 20th century, but also, as my colleague Isaac Stanley-Becker has written, joined our fight against the Taliban after 9/11 and suffered significant casualties for a small nation. Their soldiers bled and died on the same battlefields as Americans...

No clear-cut Baez Index checkoffs (yet) and this was a new one that JB might want to add: I really feel that "outside the Universe" deserves some points. And "wait billions of years then we'll see" combined with "I lack Moses-type skills" should rack up some serious points.

That was all it was. Well known public figure, head of large government agency, AI unable to provide the correct image. Later searches apparently fixed the problem. I will bring up the screenshot issue with my Lenovo tablet if I can't get it resolved - will do that on the feedback forum later. Thanks.

Do Grok or God? For Peru's mist under Avon air, a fat Saratoga mama got a Rastafarian ova, red nuts, I'm sure, Prof.

Uh, you needed to click the link and observe the photo my search provided. That was what was amusing. I am sorry you took the post seriously and that the humorous error was not visible for you. Also, please feel free to consider that some devices may have trouble loading screenshots on this website - I'm not the first to have this problem. And that is why I posted a link instead. ETA - that search was finally fixed, so you can't see the error now. The photo was originally of someone who looked like Garrison Keillor. Let's move on, shall we?

Thanks. Gladiator, eh? Were you not entertained? Staying on topic... Eh, did sea gladiator's rot aid algaes? Did he?

Ha! "That's one very small step for a man, one giant leap of illogic for all magakind."

Cory Doctorow, on the AI bubble and reverse centaurs. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/18/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur Also, John Scalzi, "When the Moon Hits Your Eye," a funny and clever satirical look at our present times, using a delightfully silly premise of an astronomical anomaly involving the moon. Scalzi fans will not be disappointed. Nor would anyone just discovering Scalzi, imo.

So, today posed a fairly unchallenging query to the Google AI. See if you can spot the failure.... https://www.google.com/search?q=Director+of+HHS&oq=Director+of+HHS&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTEyNzUyajBqNKgCALACAQ&client=tablet-android-lenovo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&zx=1768756415716&no_sw_cr=1#cobssid=c

Reginald LaNiger and his friend Emma Damme like to watch documentaries about ancient Rome... Men oil lats - Saturnalia predictability: a day til I bat cider pail an' rut as stallion, Em.

UHT goat milk might also be good if there are any digestive issues not resolved by the fermentation. It has the A2 casein, which some find easier to handle. (A2 beta-casein is what is found in human milk)

I thought the characterization of bloodworms as " very disagreeable worms in that they are ill-tempered and easily provoked," could be attributing more emotional complexity to that species than is really there. (If we were talking badgers, then maybe those would be useful descriptors) An interesting look at biochemistry that incorporates transition metal into tooth enamel.

And the fact that he was appointed by He Who Republicans Deify (Ronnie R) is icing on the cake. Or extra olives on the pizza. (OT, but I am of that school of culinary thought which holds that you can never have too many olives)

https://wapo.st/4qjwsxj Trump Cabinet secretaries conspired to violate Constitution, judge says“The Cabinet secretaries and ostensibly, the president of the United States, are not honoring the First Amendment,” U.S. District Judge William Young declared. A federal judge Thursday decried what he said were “breathtaking” constitutional violations by senior Trump administration officials and called the president an “authoritarian” who expects everyone in the executive branch to “toe the line absolutely.” In remarks laced with outrage and disbelief, U.S. District Judge William Young said Donald Trump and top officials have a “fearful approach” to freedom of speech that would seek to “exclude from participation everyone who doesn’t agree with them.” Young, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, leveled the searing critique during a hearing in Boston to determine the appropriate remedies for the administration’s detentions of pro-Palestinian students last year. The judge had ruled in September that senior administration officials engaged in an illegal effort to arrest and deport noncitizen students based on their activism.

Late to the thread, a few observations: Grok was found last year to be echoing the views of its billionaire creator, so much so that it would sometimes search online for Musk’s stance on an issue before offering up an opinion. Grok has posted about “white genocide” in South Africa in its responses to users, who are asking a variety of questions, most of which have nothing to do with South Africa. Grok, before some modification (which may not entirely end the ease with which it can be manipulated), has praised the views and actions of Adolph Hitler and made antisemitic comments about how Jews run everything. Grok has also been used to produce photos of public figures doctored to show them scantily dressed or naked. We are told this is also fixed - I guess we'll see. So, before I read further, I have to ask if one could do better with Gemini, GPT4, Claude, et al. Don't forget mindless sycophant. That's what really brings in the customers for these AI companies. Filtering as you describe can sometimes exclude useful data.

So, I'm guessing a good day in the life of a civil service employee is one where you do not have to seriously consider the merits, and possible implementation, of ideas which you initially thought were just satirical nonsense published in some outlet like The Onion. So this report from Reuters is one that I feel did not give said CS folk warm fuzzy feelings. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-backed-palestinian-who-wants-push-gazas-rubble-into-sea-2026-01-15/ But I could be wrong. After all, I'm not a demolition engineer or marine biologist or allied with any other field that might be relevant to pushing the wreck of Gaza into the Mediterranean Sea. That's why we have science forums, so that projects which seem on their face to be harebrained can be coolly examined by intellects loftier than our own and perhaps reveal their inner beauty and logic. But...aside from the sheer volume of wreckage, isn't warfare wreckage rather toxic stuff to just be shoving into a marine ecosystem?

Took me a beat to catch the French/English pun. Har! Yes. The inverted population pyramid, when it comes, will make this harder if there are labor shortages in direct care occupations. IIRC, South Korea with its very low fertility rate (and low immigration) will hit this wall first.

Especially given that toilets can become entertainment devices for pets... ABC11 Raleigh-DurhamVIDEO: Clever cat teaches himself how to flush the toiletA Virginia man and his family were confused after learning that their water bill had drastically increased in just one month.

Yes. That logic is inescapable.

One thing that tends to diminish my confidence in correlations is that when people add more of something to a diet, it often means they consume less of something else. What protects RFKJr from sewage is that it perfectly matches his cranial contents. 😁

Plus one for creativity and making me laugh. My condolences to the poor otter! Let the garret surveillance continue.

Haha. Charybdis may only be a weak statistical correlation. I think the jury is still out. I meant that lactose intolerance is really hard to track. Most people, especially in areas with fewer doctors and medical infrastructure, never create much if any public record. Milk doesn't sit well, so they avoid it.

Casein also has been linked to greater prostate cancer risk, in some studies, though I think this remains an avenue for more study and not definitive. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4166373/ A family member has been eating a high casein diet (eggs and cheese, as major elements of a vegetarian diet), but they already have enough eating issues that I don't want to bring that up. I'm sure the potential cholera protectant aspect would please them. Curious how that is tracked.