The local hole

 

No idea if this is true or not, but the part about Fermi´s paradox is fascinating, and could be another possible "solution" to it. 

The idea is that our galaxy is situated inside a large cosmic "void", within which intrastellar communication and space travel is extremely difficult. So if aliens exists somewhere inside this void, we might never encounter them. Also, the void is of no particular interest to advanced alien civilizations that might exist outside it, which explains why we never hear from them, either! In plain English: Homo sapiens (the crown of creation, goal of evolution, blah blah) really does live in a universal backwater...

Another portion of the video discusses the expansion rate of the universe, dark matter and such.    

The other guy

 

In case you are interested, John Michael Greer´s post-mortem of the POTUS elections.  

The Century of the Other

GOP: Friends of Ukraine?

 

Michael Tracey (who opposes US aid to Ukraine) doesn´t think the incoming Trump admin or the current GOP majority in the House have done enough to stop said aid. Or anything at all, really. 

>>>House Republicans pledged in 2022 to impose oversight on Biden's conduct of Ukraine war policy, and end the so-called "blank check." Then they won the majority, and this "oversight" consisted of *increasing* war funds to Ukraine, performing little or no actual oversight, and demanding Biden loosen restrictions on Ukraine. >>>The "oversight" that Republicans have been far more concerned with has been to confabulate an "anti-Semitism" panic, which they made a top legislative priority. >>>Now, Biden authorizes US ballistic missile strikes on Russia, and the House does nothing. Just like when Biden first authorized US munitions to be used inside Russia in May, and the House did nothing. However, there will be plenty of important action taken on Trans in bathrooms.

Further down the thread, somebody comments: "There will be no important action taken on trans in bathrooms, either." (This is a reference to Speaker Johnson prohibiting a Democrat House member who is a trans-woman from using the female bathrooms in Congress.)

Original tweet/thread

Cylons over Yukon

 

An intriguing postscript to the Chinese spy balloon scare of 2023. A photo of one of the objects shot down by the US Air Force over Yukon in Canada has finally been declassified. Now, we are supposed to think it may have been an UFO instead! Could there be a connection to the recent disclosure hearings in Washington DC? 

My guess is that the objects of course were Chinese (or even Andamanese) and that the USAF for some reason are trying to get the public to think that they were alien space craft. To avoid an embarrasing "Sputnik moment"?

Some quotes from the first article linked below:   

>>>What makes the incidents of February 2023 particularly intriguing is the lack of concrete details about the objects themselves. While the Chinese balloon was clearly identified as a surveillance device, the other three objects remain largely mysterious. The fact that no debris has been recovered has only fueled speculation about their nature. U.S. President Joe Biden suggested that the objects were likely benign, potentially private or research balloons, but the absence of detailed imagery or wreckage has left room for alternative theories.

>>>The limited information provided by the military has also stoked conspiracy theories, with some speculating that these objects could be of extraterrestrial origin or advanced surveillance technology deployed by rival states. Experts, however, caution against such conclusions.

>>>In the wake of these incidents, both the Pentagon and NASA have ramped up their efforts to investigate UAPs, a term that has largely replaced the older “UFO” terminology in official discourse. Meanwhile, Canada’s Sky Canada Project, led by the Office of the Chief Science Advisor, is expected to release its own report on UAP sightings in 2024, potentially shedding more light on these mysterious encounters.

The second link goes to a blog post by ultra-alternative blogger Vox Day who says (seemingly un-ironically) that the UFO over Yukon must be a Cylon ship?! The Cylons are the bad guys in the Mormon-inspired science fiction franchise "Battlestar Galactica"...

First image of "UFO" shot down by US Air Force emerges 

Cylons are real

Disturbing agenda

 

Doreen Virtue´s most recent YouTube video has the absurd title "Oprah´s Demonic Agenda - Insider Tells All", the insider in question being Virtue herself. I have essentially zero interest in Oprah Winfrey and her show, so it came as something of a surprise to learn that she was *so* into New Age spirituality, including channeling and similar stuff. But yes, that would explain a thing or two. Indeed, Doreen Virtue herself (during her New Age period) was one of the people propelled into mega-fame by Oprah. Another was none other than Marianne Williamson, today mostly known for her two quixotic attempts to run for US president. 

I can´t say I like this clip. Virtue´s born again Christian fundamentalism makes her condemn essentially everything else as "demonic". Oprah is apparently an abuse survivor and it seems many female survivors are drawn to New Age and New Thought, perhaps because of its magical positive thinking message, which these people may found empowering. Or at least more empowering than, say, Christian fundamentalism? 

Virtue spends a good portion of her video to argue that abuse victims should embrace her form of fundamentalism rather than the "demonic" New Age messaging, which in her estimation is simply "disassociation". The New Age believers live in a fantasy world of love, but its somehow created by the Devil himself who acts as their "sugar daddy". So survivors of sexual and physical abuse should turn to Christ instead. 

Virtue´s version of Christ, that is. Since he tortures billions of sinners in an eternal hell, somebody might argue that he is the ultimate serial abuser. And hardly a good alternative to the metaphysical sugar daddy.

Frankly, I found this video to be pretty disturbing. Maybe we should pray for...Doreen Virtue.  

Storm Shadow

 

So it´s official now. Ukraine has used both American ATACMS missiles and UK Storm Shadow dittos to target military bases on recognized Russian territory. 

As already mentioned, Moscow has changed its nuclear doctrine, threatening everyone who attacks the Russian Federation and its allies (and presumably its occupied territories!) in the way Ukraine just did with nuclear retaliation. 

The only ally explictly mentioned is Belarus, but it does raise questions about what would happen during a shooting war between, say, North Korea and South Korea...

The storm shadows are gathering. 

Fallout

 

A headline from "Breitbart Confidential", so it´s locked for non-subscribers. LOL! Oookay.

But then, we´ve been there already, haven´t we? Look what I reviewed way back in 2018...

How Vermont can survive a nuclear war  

Bright insight

 

A short article arguing that the differences in intelligence between atheists and religious people is a matter of cognitive style. Atheists think more logically, religious people more intuitively. But then, somebody might argue that this does make atheists smarter...

Are religious people really less smart than atheists? 

*That* Edward Dutton

 

LOL. This provocatively titled article from 2017 at the site Live Science actually references - wait for it - Edward Dutton?!

The idea seems to be that atheists are more intelligent than religious people since religion is an instinct, and you need intelligence to rise above your instincts. Maybe, but as a critic astutely points out, how do you define "religion"? Communism is atheist and used to be very strong, veganism is popular among many atheists today, but are they really "smart"?

Personally, I wonder about the instinct part. Our instincts must have survival value, otherwise they wouldn´t have evolved, so how did religion evolve if religious beliefs lack a referent? Social insects have created "complex societies" based on pure instinct, so it´s not even clear whether "intelligence" is needed at all, evolutionarily speaking. 

Still, an interesting little article.   

Why are atheists generally smarter than religious people?

Embrace the spoiler

 

Kshama Sawant from "Revolutionary Workers" and "Workers Strike Back" defends the strategy to deliberately spoil the elections for the Democrats.

Probably not a popular message right now...   

The Democrats deserve to lose 1000 times over