Political tests in science

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, news, politics, science, Worldwreckers, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Oct 112022
 

A political test in any science other than “political science” is an abomination. So, of course, here comes the United States Federal Government instituting political tests: you have to pledge allegiance to a scientifically irrelevant political ideology *and* do a performative written struggle session explaining just how much you love Dear Leaders wise policies and how you, yes, YOU, plan on instituting them rather than doing, you know, science.

From the Department of Energy, which has apparently solved all our energy problems (did they finally crack fusion? Do the neighborhood-scale fusion powerplants start shipping next week?), comes this nightmare:

Everyone Has a Role to Play in Making Science More Equitable and Inclusive

That is why, beginning in FY 2023, the Office of Science is adding a new requirement to our solicitation processes: applicants must now submit a plan for Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research, or PIER Plan, along with their research proposals. PIER Plans should describe the activities and strategies that investigators and research personnel will incorporate to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their research projects. The complexity and detail of a PIER Plan is expected to increase with the size of the research team and the number of personnel to be supported. This will be a requirement for proposals submitted to all Office of Science solicitations, as well as invited proposals from the DOE national laboratories. The PIER Plans will be evaluated under a new merit review criterion as part of the peer review process.  

 

I have high hopes of lawsuits galore.  And I would have hopes that, if the FBI was actually up to the task of doing its job, they’d be investigating the people pushing this crap. I would not be at all surprised to find some foreign involvement here. Why do the hard work of competing against aggressive and enthusiastic science when you can convince the gullible chuckleheads on the other side to eat themselves and corrupt their own science with pseudo-religious garbage?

 Posted by at 6:42 pm

How is this legal?

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, news, politics, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Oct 112022
 

This happens in both the UK and the USA (and elsewhere): people with some sort of cause decide that they way to get their point across is to block traffic. This isn’t merely an inconvenience; this can cost people jobs and, in the case below, doctors appointments, and quite possibly worse.. In the US, it is perfectly legal to protest: the Constitution by way of the 1st Amendment guarantees it:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Note, though, two important points:

  • the right of the people peaceably to assemble
  • to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

Blocking traffic is not petitioning the Government. And when you intentionally piss off the public, you’re hardly “peaceably assembling.” For people trapped in their cars, I don’t see why it’s not considered kidnapping or at least unlawful arrest.

The British police are seen here doing *nothing.* They are in effect enabling the protestors in their efforts to ruin the lives of regular folk. But they also don’t seem to be doing much to stop the few decent citizens who are dragging the jackholes out of the road. So how would they respond if someone were to reasonably gently drag someone off a road and zip-tip them to a pole? Rifle through their pockets? Relieve them of their shoes and other apparel? Bundle them into unmarked vans and drive off with them?

 Posted by at 10:32 am

We’ve killed ourselves

 AARRRGH, Crazy, Forward!, Gah., Hmm..., news, politics, science, Worldwreckers, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Oct 102022
 

Study links in utero ‘forever chemical’ exposure to low sperm count and mobility

The Danish study shows a link between PFAS chemicals, often used in plastic products including food packaging, and now found in *rain,* and drastically reduced sperm counts. This is a possible explanation for why the developed world’s sperm counts have crashed while the undeveloped world’s sperm counts remain fairly high.

It is unlikely that reduced sperm counts are the sole result of these chemicals, which mess with hormones. It would not surprise me that they also trash testosterone levels, another problem in considerable evidence these days. This would not be the first time that science has shown widespread problems due to chemicals in consumer products: tetra-ethyl lead in gasoline and lead in paint led to whole generations of kids being stupider and more violent than they should have been. And then there’s tobacco.

So what will be done about this? If the link can be firmly established, PFAS chemicals *should* be removed from the market. But I wonder about pushback: not so much from the chemical and plastics industries… but from the Alphabet People. If it is scientifically shown that the existence of everything from bog-standard homosexuals to low-testosterone “soyboys” to dangerhaired weirdos to a large fraction of those  feeling the need to transition are all influenced to an important degree by the existence of PFAS… then deleting the chemicals might be seen as anti-Alphabet People. If nothing else, the following generations should presumably have fewer Alphabet People. I suspect this won’t go over all that well.

The alternative seems to be a population crash in the developed world, followed by a complete takeover by the undeveloped world. I suspect that this, too, might be something that some people want to have happen.

 Posted by at 7:43 pm

Someone attempt to explain this

 Crazy, Hmm..., news, politics, religion, russian empire, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Oct 092022
 

I have been astonished since the Russian invasion of Ukraine by support for Putin by many on the Right in the US. They support him for a few main reasons, seemingly:

1) Ukraine was well known as being corrupt (witness Hunter Biden).

2) Putin has been standing up against a lot of the things the Right stands up against… in particular, leftist lunacy.

3) Putin is “pro-Christian.”

Yeah, about #3…

Putin ally threatens to turn Chechens loose on Russian dissidents

Putin is apparently contemplating unleashing foreign Muslims onto Russian Christians. Is… is this “defending Christianity?”

 Posted by at 12:13 am

Bridge Goes BOOM

 awesomeness, Hmm..., news, politics, russian empire, weapons, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Oct 082022
 

The Kerch Bridge that connects Russia to Crimea partially collapsed after an explosion – possibly a car bomb – went off overnight. A parallel span with a rail line had a fuel train at the time; several of the tanker cars caught fire. All in all, quite an impressive mess.

 

In related matters, it seems that the deeper strategy behind the Wagner Group recruiting Russian criminals has become clear:

 

The prisoners, it seems, were never meant to be useful as any sort of fighting force, and barely even as cannon fodder: instead, they are being simply dumped into Ukrainian hands. This empties out Russian prisons, saving them some money, and are now Ukraines problem. Ukrainian military forces have to deal with the POWs on the battlefield; then the tattered Ukrainian economy has to deal with housing them. The Russians, it seems, views them as deserters and won’t trade them for Ukrainian POWs.

Genius. Evil genius, but genius nonetheless. It’s largely the same strategy that Turkey and such have used against Europe with floods of “migrants.”

 Posted by at 8:15 am

Limited nuclear war, if it comes to the UK

 Crazy, Hmm..., nukes, politics, russian empire, weapons, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Oct 082022
 

If Putin absolutely loses his mind and decides to nuke UK, how might he go about it? The below analysis assumes a total of two ICBMs are used against the UK. Not to utterly destroy the country, but to turn it into a humanitarian nightmare and distract from Ukraine. Assuming Russia succeeded in setting off these warheads on the chosen targets… yes, Britain would very quickly be in very, very serious trouble. But I have the sneaking suspicion that even without NATO backing the Brits just might remember that not all that long ago their nation used to have a backbone, and as a result British nukes will quickly start appearing in the skies of Russia.

If one assumes this scenario and it actually ends with just the targets in Britain the video suggests (let’s say that five seconds after it’s announced that Russian forces have nuked Britain, the Russian people/military rise up and string Putin and his lackeys from lamp posts and start begging to not get nuked in response), the future of Britain would become very interesting indeed. Probably Britains biggest current nightmare is the vast number of foreign colonists. But if Britain ceases to be the land of free bennies, it’s safe to assume that many, if not most, if not *all*, of these “migrants” will pick up and migrate somewhere else. There has been a whole lot of lack of British pride/patriotism on display in many of these immigrant communities; there doesn’t seem to be anything holding these people in place. And if things get really bad in Britain, one wonders how tolerant the natives will be for antagonistic extra mouths to feed.

But I suspect that if Britain catches two ICBMs, they’ll soon catch more as a response to the British response. Might not be a whole lot of Britain left in the end.

Far and away the best thing to happen if Putin actually gives the order is if he very quickly has an unfortunate health episode, before said order can be carried out.

 Posted by at 2:25 am

Oh, NOW it’s an emergency

 Forward!, Hmm..., humor, news, politics  No Responses »
Oct 072022
 

So long as it was those rubes in Texas and Florida being stuck with the bill, it was fine. But now that New York is getting the *tiniest* fraction of the problem…

NYC Mayor Eric Adams declares state of emergency over influx of migrants

Boo fricken’ hoo. Suck it up and do your part, Mayor Adams. You could start by advocating that illegal aliens be deported when caught, and prevented from invading in the first place.

 Posted by at 8:31 pm

Russians in or near Ukraine: Make You Some Money

 Hmm..., politics, russian empire, weapons  No Responses »
Oct 072022
 

Are you in control of some military hardware near Ukraine? Sell it.

Ukrainian parliament signs law offering $1 million rewards to defecting Russian soldiers who hand over a fighter jet or a warship

An infographic showing the bounties you can earn for various vehicles, anything from trucks ($10,000 US) up to helicopters ($500,000) to jet fighters ($1 million) and combat vessels ($1 million). I was certain that I’d seen another one that includes subs, and offered something like $200 million for major combat vessels. but perhaps that vague recollection is simply a brain fart, possibly a lingering aftereffect of the Commie Cough.

 

 Posted by at 1:53 am
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