Chicken Shack ≈ I’d Rather Go Blind https://youtu.be/Ohx9Ve7-GS0 (featuring the late Christine McVie)

Happy Turkey Day, RPU! The past couple decades may have been the shits but when I look back I also recall many fond memories of good times with good people. Including living in the outside at Hidden Valley Campground on Thanksgiving. It's been an adventure. Thank you to all the various characters and players who helped make it special. It's been a blessing.

Tasty dinner treats tonight.

Todd Gordon will be hosting a benefit get together for Peggy on November 19th. Sure to be a good time. And a good cause. Hope to see you there.

An interesting social experiment. Once upon a time, I fished, lived and taught, in Alaska. Perspective perceived is achieved. Alaska’s Independents Have Something to Say to the Rest of the Country I shall reserve any personal comments so as to not bias any further discussion. Feel free to express your provided you are comfortable adhering to a claim, data, warrant framework.

Once upon a time I was pretty into Astrophysics. This is pretty interesting: Astronomers have observed the brightest flash of light ever seen, from an event that occurred 2.4 billion light-years from Earth and was likely triggered by the formation of a black hole. Image courtesy of Associated Press Observing the event now is like watching a 1.9 billion-year-old recording of those events unfold before us, giving astronomers a rare opportunity to glean new insights into things like black hole formation. Heh, and it 'only' took 1.9 billion years for the light to reach earth since the universe is expanding.

Indian Village Disconnects With ‘Daily Digital Detox’ Initiative An idea whose time has long since come: In a remote village in India, a siren can be heard from the local temple every night at 7 p.m. — signaling the commencement of a daily “digital detox.” For the next 90 minutes, the population of 3,000 in Sangli district’s Mohityanche Vadgaon lays aside all the electronic gadgets in the vicinity, including mobile phones and television sets. .... Proponents of the initiative carried out at a village in the Maharashtra state of India say it is the solution to the “screen addiction” afflicting residents in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and brings back the value of human connection. .... Dr. J.R. Ram, a clinical psychiatrist in Kolkata, said, “extended screen time can result in several adverse effects, but during the pandemic, the forced incarceration of young people at home has amplified its impact.” He said that it becomes an obstacle for students’ progress in learning. “Surfing on the internet—that is, multi-tasking deprives students of their ability to concentrate for longer periods when they need to study,” Ram said. “They get used to scrolling on social media, watching videos and exchanging text messages during classes. Such a situation can have negative consequences on one’s cognition or thinking ability.” .... The women in the village played a crucial role in the digital detox initiative. “We gathered the village women, including the mothers of the students, and explained to them how the misuse of mobiles was destroying the future of the children,” Sarpanch Mohite told VOA. “When we proposed the idea of a digital detox, they all agreed with our concerns about the children and supported our idea, too.” .... Word on the initiative at Mohityanche Vadgaon has traveled fast that five other villages in Sangli district have emulated Mohite’s concept and implemented similar steps. Rajubhai Mujawar, a resident of a nearby Nerli village, said that a daily ban on mobile and TV for 90 minutes will be introduced where he lives soon. “The children have become mobile addicts. We have decided to introduce the rule of ‘No mobile, No TV’ for 1.5 hours daily in our village soon, following what Mohityanche Vadgaon village has done,” he said. Hell, yeah, ya' think? I have to guard against this myself as an adult and take Digital Sabbaths from time to time. Few others, especially teens, possess the requisite discipline because, alas, it is already too late for their brain chemistry to "survive" such without some type of assistance and/or medication. I am not anti capitalism but, ho man, they sure have corrupted the "Great Promise" of the Internet from its initial intentions from way back in the day. Indeed, I wonder if the academics who invented this stuff where omnivoyant if they would have still created this monster?

Ozone Hole Grows This Year but Still Shrinking in General The ozone hole hit its peak size of more than 26.4 million square kilometers on October 5, the largest it has been since 2015, according to NASA. .... Chlorine and bromine chemicals high in the atmosphere eat at Earth's protective ozone layer. .... Decades ago, atmospheric chemists noticed that chlorine and bromine was increasing in the atmosphere, warning of massive crop damage, food shortages and huge increases in skin cancer if something wasn't done. In 1987, the world agreed to a landmark treaty, the Montreal Protocol, that banned ozone-munching chemicals, often hailed as an environmental success story. It's a slow process because one of the chief ozone-munching chemicals, CFC11, can stay in the atmosphere for decades, Newman said. Studies also show that CFC11 levels going into the air were rising a few years ago with scientists suspecting factories in China. Freakin' China! Again!! Stop the consumerism and importing of cheap ass goods people. Practice discernment and reclaim control of your own minds. Boycott Meta and their ilk and the mind controlling marketroids and their algorithms brain washing you into believing that you need all that you want. Demand quality goods that last over planned obsolescence and 'disposables' purpose designed and optimized to fail after an increasingly minimal acceptable period of service. We are capable of engineering much higher quality than this but only if we consumers demand it. And please, please, please, practice your ABC's - Anywhere But China. Ah, never mind. It is hopeless. YOLO! He who dies with the most toys "wins"! We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.....

@Tobia said in Random Photo Thread: These prices seemed outrageous in 1982! Indeed. But not quite as outrageous as when they first broke fifty cents per gallon?? Or a buck? I guess $1.50 was another "milestone" but less of a "shocker" by then? I have not looked recently but big oil comprises quite a few slots in the top ten richest companies list. All of this on public resources extracted from public lands. I am not opposed to profits but this industry has become obscene. Witness the situation in CA noted up post. So much for "we the people".

Australia Investigates Impact of Long COVID COVID-19 cases reported in Australia continue to fall, but the consequences of infection are still being felt. A study published Wednesday by the Australian National University said that about one in three adults who have had the virus had symptoms that lasted for longer than four weeks, a common indicator of so-called “long COVID.” Symptoms include extreme fatigue, heart palpitations, joint and muscle pain as well as insomnia and a cough. The study also stated that many patients with long COVID also experienced “low mood.” This is pretty much being ignored stateside - bad optics for the current regime, I guess. I am happy to hear "somebody" is giving it some attention. I was just talking with a friend about this last weekend. He was mid thirties and working construction when he contracted Covid early on in the pandemic and commented on how his immune system was not worth a crap post Covid. Used to never get sick and now contracts every cold virus that comes along. Still lacks his former "get up and go". Anyone else have any anecdotal experiences to report on this?

With so much else going on in the world Avian Bird Flu seems to be flying under the radar. This should be getting more attention before it becomes a pandemic in its own right. A small sampling from VOA News: Zoos Protecting Birds as Avian Flu Spreads in North America Nearly 23 million chickens and turkeys have already been killed across the United States to limit the spread of the virus, and zoos are working hard to prevent any of their birds from meeting the same fate. It would be especially upsetting for zoos to have to kill any of the endangered or threatened species in their care. .... Officials emphasize that bird flu doesn't jeopardize the safety of meat or eggs or represent a significant risk to human health. No infected birds are allowed into the food supply, and properly cooking poultry and eggs kills bacteria and viruses. No human cases have been found in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wait for it... well... we did not have to wait long: 3 weeks later: First US Case of H5N1 Bird Flu in Human Confirmed in Colorado A Colorado prison inmate who worked at a poultry farm culling infected birds has become the first person in the U.S. to test positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. And more recently, endangered species of Penguins are being infected: Bird Flu Hits Colony of Endangered Penguins in South Africa Cape Town, South Africa — South African conservationists are on high alert after an outbreak of bird flu killed close to 30 penguins at one of the country's most stable colonies and a popular tourist attraction. The disease, formally known as avian influenza, is untreatable and has already killed more than 20,000 Cape cormorant birds since last year. Boulders Penguin Colony, about a 40-minute drive from Cape Town’s city center, is home to about 3,000 African penguins — a significant number given there are only about 14,000 breeding pairs left on the planet. Taking our eyes off of this ball, political gamesmanship, etc. could well mean disaster for our feathered friends.

I used to be pretty into Physics once upon a time. Three Scientists Win Physics Nobel for Quantum Information Research Pretty much all physicists I have ever met either overtly or covertly dream of winning the Nobel Prize. Interesting stuff. “Quantum information science is a vibrant and rapidly developing field," said Eva Olsson, a member of the Nobel committee. “It has broad and potential implications in areas such as secure information transfer, quantum computing and sensing technology.”

Plastic Galapagos: How New Life Is Sprouting on Ocean Trash This is pretty interesting. To quote one of the scientists: It is not going to happen in my lifetime but I'd love to have a peek a hundred years from now.

This is pretty cool. "Crowd Sourcing" collection of data on threatened and endangered species in Kenya: https://av.voanews.com/Videoroot/Pangeavideo/2022/09/0/0c/0c520000-0aff-0242-b4d8-08da9c9eeec1_1080p.mp4 Kenya is home to nearly 400 species of mammals, 22 of them natives to regions of Kenya, according to national figures. Authorities say it is getting more difficult to protect them, as climate change and human activities take a toll on their natural habitats. ..... "It is very hard to benefit or manage what you don't know," he said. "That is why this is so important. It is going to tell us which species we have, where they are, and maybe which ones are highly endangered, what we need to do about them. And especially not just the big things but also the small things, like the bats." Cool. Internet tech being used once again for good rather than evil.

Old Coonyard is up to something new and, I think, pretty innovative and exciting: Earth is now Patagonia's only shareholder Here’s how it works: 100% of the company’s voting stock transfers to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, created to protect the company’s values; and 100% of the nonvoting stock had been given to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature. The funding will come from Patagonia: Each year, the money we make after reinvesting in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help fight the crisis. Good on ya' Coonyard!! Never stop exploring!!

How the polarizing effect of social media is speeding up On how this ties into social media platforms reaching viewership goals So what the systems that govern YouTube and govern what you see realized, was that to serve that [viewership] goal, they would need to be providing new content that would create some sort of a sense of crisis, and some sort of a sense that you and your identity were under threat. So what that might mean is that if you're looking for, let's say, health tips, information about vaccines, the best thing for YouTube to show you isn't straightforward health information. The best thing for YouTube to show you is something that gives you a sense that you are part of some community, let's say moms who are concerned about their kids, and that community is under threat from some outside danger. And that that will trigger a sense of alarm, that will make you want to come back and spend more and more time watching. Heh... as a techie type... it amazes me how so many people are just beginning to figure this out... On possible solutions Whenever I would ask the experts who study this, what do they think? It's always some version of turning it off. Not turning off the entire platform, not shuttering the website. But turning off the algorithm. Turning off likes, the little counter at the bottom of the post that shows you how many people liked it or retweeted it. That's something that even Jack Dorsey, the former head of Twitter, floated as an idea, because he came to see that it is so harmful. I have had this very discussion with some developer types who were, indeed, favoring removal of such. I argued that they should remain, and the real problem was best resolved thru ethical moderation. As evidenced in this interview, these capitalist driven big social media corporations are incentivized to fan, rather than douse, the flames. So mayhaps these thinkers are onto something here?

To Support and Defend: Principles of Civilian Control and Best Practices of Civil-Military Relations An interesting open letter from eight former secretaries of Defense and five former chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The letter opens thusly before elaborating upon sixteen pillars of best practices (which are worth a read and some pondering): We are in an exceptionally challenging civil-military environment. Many of the factors that shape civil-military relations have undergone extreme strain in recent years. Geopolitically, the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the ramping up of great power conflict mean the U.S. military must simultaneously come to terms with wars that ended without all the goals satisfactorily accomplished while preparing for more daunting competition with near-peer rivals. Socially, the pandemic and the economic dislocations have disrupted societal patterns and put enormous strain on individuals and families. Politically, military professionals confront an extremely adverse environment characterized by the divisiveness of affective polarization that culminated in the first election in over a century when the peaceful transfer of political power was disrupted and in doubt. Looking ahead, all of these factors could well get worse before they get better. In such an environment, it is helpful to review the core principles and best practices by which civilian and military professionals have conducted healthy American civil-military relations in the past — and can continue to do so, if vigilant and mindful. The sixteenth pillar closes the letter: During presidential elections, the military has a dual obligation. First, because the Constitution provides for only one commander-in chief at a time, the military must assist the current commander-in-chief in the exercise of his or her constitutional duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Second, because the voters (not the military) decide who will be commander-in-chief, they must prepare for whomever the voters pick — whether a reelected incumbent or someone new. This dual obligation reinforces the importance of the principles and best practices described above. Followed by the letter's signatories: Signatories: Former Secretaries of Defense Dr. Ashton Baldwin Carter William Sebastian Cohen Dr. Mark Thomas Esper Dr. Robert Michael Gates Charles Timothy Hagel James Norman Mattis Leon Edward Panetta Dr. William James Perry Former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. (ret.) Martin Edward Dempsey Gen. (ret.) Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. Adm. (ret.) Michael Glenn Mullen Gen. (ret.) Richard Bowman Myers Gen. (ret.) Peter Pace Talk about living in interesting times, eh?

I was reading an interesting opinion piece, What I Learned About Media Rage After Getting Fired From Fox The bits below hit the nail on the head: As a journalist, I believe that what is wrong with my vocation and the industry in which I work is harming Americans left, right and center. Major players in the news business are abusing their privileges and shirking their duties, and we all pay the price. The agenda at many outlets is to move away from even aspirational fairness and balance and toward shared anger and the powerful emotional connections it can create. Unable to sell large, diverse audiences to advertisers, news outlets increasingly focus on developing highly habituated users. To cultivate the kind of intense readers, viewers or listeners necessary to make the addiction model profitable, media companies need consumers to have strong feelings. Fear, resentment and anger work wonders. It helps news outlets create deep emotional connections to users not just as users of a product, but as members of the same tribe. Reporters increasingly disdain the old virtues of fairness and balance as “bothsidesism,” reimagining the ancient vice of bias as something honorable. Opinion pages become more homogeneous. Story selections become more predictable. Most ominously, post-journalism produces stifling groupthink inside news organizations and serious consequences for journalists who dissent. What we think of as “bad news” can score like gangbusters if it is scary and anger-inducing. But news that is bad for your audience’s ideological in-groups is clickbait kryptonite. In such a competitive marketplace, riling people up against the other side isn’t enough. You’ve also got to create a safe space for consumers to plop down and contentedly contemplate ads for beet-based nutrient powders, reverse mortgages and copper underpants. If you challenge their assumptions or suggest that their avatars in the culture war are wrong or losing, they may leave for competitors who offer more complete protection from harsh realities. Which I guess are excerpted from the author's book: Well, duh!! What are we, as a freedom loving society, going to do to ensure our democracy remains thusly? What can we actually do given the cold facts at hand?

@T-Hocking Cool pic of El Cap and The Nose from bitd!

That’s not the ending to the story I was hoping for.