Climate Change Too Slow to Get Under Control

This is a long, but very important read.
Excerpt:

The melting ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica are climate change’s most dangerous Big Bad, capable of altering the very face of the planet. All the adaptation we could muster can’t hold back the 25 feet or so of sea level rise that Greenland alone could unleash, not to mention the couple hundred more locked up at the planet’s southern extreme. And increasingly, scientists have found that these ice behemoths are teetering on the edge, approaching tipping points that will more or less lock in all or significant parts of their melt within only fractions of a degree from where things stand today.



One would think, then, that the world might show some increased urgency in the face of such imminent calamity. Miami, Shanghai, much of Bangladesh and the Netherlands, and many other places—gone. Trillions of dollars in real estate submerged, not to mention the sheer calamity of many millions of people seeing their homes lapped up by the waves and the geopolitical chaos such an event would undoubtedly spawn.



And yet. And yet emissions rose again in 2023. And yet demand for oil and gas will rise in 2024. And yet the supposedly landmark result of COP28, the United Nations climate talks held in December in Dubai, included in its agreement to transition away from fossil fuels massive loopholes and the traditional lack of teeth that plagues global agreements. The collective shrug at this Ice Sheet of Damocles can be chalked up to a strange quirk of this particular brand of apocalypse:



The ice sheets are melting too slowly for us to stop them.

So How Come, with Sam Bankman Fried

they can go from the first inklings of irregularities to sentencing in under 2 years. And yet, TFG is still out loose, committing all sorts of crimes for the past 8+ years, and, due to the pernicious normalcy bias of our systems, is still dancing footloose and fancy free?

Just asking for a friend.

They're Beginning to Look A Lot Like Fascists

With the Holiday season soon upon us, I thought that we should begin reviewing our Holiday Carols for the coming festivities:

An excellent report and commentary on the Pogrom in Dahgestan this weekend (watch the whole thing)

For those who don't know him, this is a report by Konstantin, a Russian ex-pat who spent many years living in the US as an exchange student and afterwards, with a Jewish family. He is very familiar with modern Russia and the rest of the world. He is an escapee from the mobilization madness and reports now from outside of the borders of Russia. But, he has close contacts and sources throughout Russia. This is an excellent summary and report. It bears watching through to the end.

ANTI-JEWISH POGROMS ARE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA 29.10.2023

This is an ongoing report from Konstantin, who has been covering Russia and its antics during the Ukraine invasion. He is stunned by what is happening, real-time in Dagestan.

https://www.youtube.com/live/skQ12tuNarE?si=5creKJVmcywyGy1g

Large Hospital Groups Cancelling Contracts with Medicare "Advantage" Carriers

I do seriously understand that this fear is over the edge, but...

Given the deep doodoo that Dumpy finds himself in, I have been pondering the current calls to have him become Speaker of the House. That puts him third in line for the Presidency. Given his deranged thought process, I am wondering if the script, in his and his followers minds, is to have him become Speaker, and then, in a Putinesque move, the folks between him and power have serious illnesses or accidents which cause him to be elevated to the role of dictator/President for life.
This places the future of the US one vote away in a Republican controlled House.

The Medicare Advantage deluge has started - Here's my plan

We're still 3 weeks away from the beginning of the open enrollment period in which the conniving insurance companies will try to get us to switch to valueless "Medicare Advantage"plans. And the deluge of mailings has begun arriving.

This year, I have resolved, as a strictly self indulgent activity of curiosity, to retain each and every item received, and then to report back here as to number of pieces of mail, and total weight of the paper they used to try to convince me to abandon my health care coverage.

Anyone else wish to keep track of their own traffic to see how uniform it is?

Carmakers Suck Badly at Keeping Your Data Private

A truly remarkable commentary by Australian Car Blogger and Curmudgeon John Cadogan on the current ways car makers are collecting and selling data about you

High School band director tased, arrested after police order him to end performance

Thank the heavens we live in a country where the police are issued lethal and near lethal instruments to enforce their will, and qualified immunity to protect them from the logical outcome of their own thuggery.

The question which this highly talented reported failed to ask was what authority do the police have to order school personnel to do anything in the conduct of their duties on school property at a school event?

The band director of a Jefferson County high school was tased and arrested by Birmingham police when authorities say he would not order his band to stop playing.

The incident happened Thursday night following the Jackson-Olin High School vs. Minor High School football game, which was played at Jackson-Olin.

The director who was arrested is Johnny Mims, Jefferson County school officials confirmed.

.....

Birmingham police spokesman Officer Truman Fitzgerald released this account of what happened:

After the football game ended, Birmingham officers were in the process of clearing out the stadium and observed both bands still performing.

Officers spoke with both schools’ band directors to end the performance so students and attendees would leave the stadium. Officers were able to get Jackson-Olin’s band to stop performing.

Officers approached Mims and began asking him to get his band to stop performing.

Mims did not comply with multiple officers’ requests to stop his band from performing; he instructed his band to continue performing.

A BPD sergeant was among the officers who attempted to get the band director to stop his band from performing.

During the officers’ interaction with Mims, the decision was made to place him in custody.

Officers attempted to take Mims into custody for disorderly conduct when a physical altercation ensued between the band director, Birmingham City Schools System security personnel, and Birmingham officers.

During the physical altercation, Birmingham officers attempted to get Mims to place his hands behind his back, but he refused.

The arresting officer alleges Mims pushed him during the arrest. The arresting officer then subdued Mims with a Taser which ended the physical confrontation.

.....

After being discharged from the hospital, officers transported Mims to the Birmingham City Jail where he was booked in and subsequently bonded out.

Officers presented the case to the City of Birmingham Magistrate’s Office; and obtained warrants for disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.