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i mean, pardon my english but this, the life i'm living is ww1 trench warfare.

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Topics - MMIX

#2
Aneristic Illusions / My two Pence worth Redux
February 28, 2018, 08:58:14 PM
Quote from Mike Pence Tue Feb 27 2018

"I know in my heart of hearts this will be the generation that restores life in America. If all of us do all we can, we can. once again, in our time, restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law."

He should have been saying this about the urgent need to address the gun epidemic afflicting America; of course, sadly, he was actually talking about abortion.

America my dear, you are so fucked.

#3
As "Isms" have historically proved to be somewhat controversial subject on the board I thought some of you might get a buzz out of this presentation

https://www.wired.com/2006/12/the_12_isms_of_/
#4
Aneristic Illusions / Stanislav Petrov the end of Days
September 18, 2017, 08:30:32 PM
I wasn't sure where to put this, but it kind of feels kind of discordio-political. Please move if inappropriate

RIP Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov. Thanks for Saving The World.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/18/1699419/-RIP-Lt-Col--Thanks-for-Saving-The-World

#5
Techmology and Scientism / Milgram Redux
May 11, 2017, 10:27:47 AM
Long ago and far away, when Americans [and Brits] had a better claim to being heroes than seems to be the case today we all knew who the bad guys were; the Germans. They were apparently uniquely and spectacularly evil. They were so evil that their evil was "banal", just another accounting tool in an empire of evil that superceded any previous evil empire in born in the bone depravity. Then our old friend Stanley Milgram steps up. He can't bring himself to believe that there is something wrong with all of the German people, he believes that the motivating force for the grotesque behaviour of ordinary Germans faced with unthinkable orders and decisions is situational. To test his hypothesis he put ordinary Americans in equivalent laboratory situations and lo and behold
Quote"Milgram recorded how far his participants were willing to go when told to deliver larger and larger shocks. In one version of the study, 26 out of 40 participants continued to the highest shock level – two steps beyond the button labelled "Danger: severe shock".

But this was 50 years ago – surely the same wouldn't happen if the experiment were conducted today?"

QuoteNew Milgram replication in Poland finds 90 per cent of participants willing to deliver highest shock

It goes without saying that a straight replication of Milgram is not possible. Well actually it is but you would never be able to publish your results and the litigation would be crippling. The present research has developed interesting and apparently quite robust strategies to compensate for the restrictions which modern ethical standard impose to get as close to the original experiments as possible. Even allowing that they did not stress their subjects as highly as Milgram did his there seems to be a disturbing tendency towards more "obedience to authority" [as Milgram called it] in the 2017 version than just after the War. Or it could just be that Poles have now become the most evil people on the planet.

The thing which immediately struck me is that in contemporary society we are more programmed for action at a distance by our everyday technologies. We remote control our environments in ways which back in Milgram's day were the province of 'Bond villains'. Makes you think, doesn't it?

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/05/05/new-milgram-replication-finds-90-per-cent-of-polish-participants-willing-to-deliver-highest-shock/
#6
Techmology and Scientism / Bring on the Future
April 22, 2017, 11:32:29 PM
QuoteFirst coal-free day in Britain since Industrial Revolution

Yay for the future and two fingers up to the luddite drumpf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39675418
#7
Techmology and Scientism / Nightmares, anybody?
February 28, 2017, 11:57:11 AM
Hey guys, just in case you were still managing to stay nightmare free despite everything here's a little something I saw today

QuoteBoston Dynamics unveils 'nightmare-inducing' hybrid robot
Meet Handle, the two-wheeled, four-legged creation from the Google-owned robotics firm that even company founder Marc Raibert says is frightening
The footage of Handle had previously leaked at a presentation from Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert to investors, when even Raibert described it as a "nightmare-inducing robot".

QuoteGoogle's parent company Alphabet is reportedly looking to offload Boston Dynamics, following tensions within the company about its subsidiary's fit within the wider corporate culture. After a previous robotics video was posted to YouTube, Google communications staff sought to distance the company from the hardware, according to emails leaked to Bloomberg News, citing the feeling that such technology could be "terrifying".

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/28/boston-dynamics-handle-nightmare-inducing-hybrid-robot-google?CMP=twt_a-technology_b-gdntech
#8
Aneristic Illusions / Stranger than fiction
January 15, 2017, 08:14:51 PM
Since the next short while, possibly even the next four or eight years, is likely to generate some unbelievable news and comment I thought it might be fun to have a place to dump it - 'cos resistance is likely to be easier if we are pissing ourselves laughing.

So I caught this one today which is kind of both news an comment rolled up into one delicious morsel:

Enjoy
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/15/1620787/-Trump-inauguration-TV-preview-Scottish-newspaper-s-amazing-trolling-of-Drumpf
and yes its real.
#9
I'm feeling a tad dyspeptic this morning so I thought I would share some xmas spirit in the only way that seems appropriate for 2016.
Ayn Rand Christmas Cards!
Here's one from the Donald to all of us really great people on PD
#10
Aneristic Illusions / A question for America
December 21, 2016, 08:36:27 PM
So this odd thought keeps wandering through the back of my mind. How many Americans thought they were voting for the end of the world on Nov 8th? Now excuse my ignorance if this is a dumb question but we don't have a "Rapture" culture over here in GB. Its a term I had never even come across until I was nearly 50. It definitely seems to be a key part of some voters mindset though. I was very struck by the number of times people would reply to incredulous reporters saying to them "but he's not a Christian" "he's a serial philanderer" "he's a liar" "he's not a good man" something to the effect of "god can work through anyone like he did through prostitutes ".

So was Armageddon on the back of ballot in flaming letters?

#11
Techmology and Scientism / Collective Narcissism
December 15, 2016, 10:56:30 AM
This just ran across my screen, and I think it might offer some interesting insights into our current predicaments.

QuoteThe new findings suggest that any politician who ferments in their followers a grandiose belief in the in-group, combined with encouraging them to believe the in-group is being insulted or slighted by others, is arguably fostering collective narcissism and sowing the seeds for future conflict and hostility. One positive way to intervene might be to see if collective narcissists can be encouraged to channel their envy and sensitivity toward constructively helping their in-group rather than harming out-groups. 
https://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/12/09/theres-such-a-thing-as-collective-narcissism-and-it-might-explain-a-lot-thats-going-on-at-the-moment/#more-15011
#12
I think this is an interesting and thought provoking choice -
and I can hardly wait for the screaming and protesting  to start
#13
Aneristic Illusions / Baton Rouge police shootings
July 17, 2016, 08:31:49 PM
BBC news report
QuoteThree police officers have been killed and three injured in a shooting in the southern US city of Baton Rouge.
One suspect is dead and two others may still be at large. Witnesses reported a man firing indiscriminately.

and they just interviewed Rep Valarie Hodges of the Louisiana House of Representatives [white R].
Her take? They must have been from out of state because we all love our police. Also - that racism is the latest excuse for anarchy!

wake me up when they start shooting politicians would you?
#14
St Urho, the Patron Saint of the Finnish vineyard workers.
#15
http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/scots-research-finds-fish-evolving-to-evade-nets-1-3849689

Damn I hope this is right; Swim faster little fishy. I just love the Law of Unintended Consequences  :fap:, don't you? Eventually huge numbers of people may starve to death because we turbo-charged the fish stocks, and what is not to love about that :(
#16
So the first runner has pulled out of the fight for the poisoned chalice that is the leadership of the Labour Party. My money says someone had a good dig into Chuka Umunna's dad's death. Who would want to be a politician, eh?

QuoteIn a recent interview, he said: 'There was a lot of speculation in Nigeria. He was a well-known  figure. I don't really want to go  into it, but things in Nigeria don't operate like here.
'It's not like you're going to get an official post mortem or a proper police investigation.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180339/Bennett-Umunna-death-Labour-MPs-father-killed-mysterious-car-crash-refusing-pay-bribes.html#ixzz3aDXUF9ly
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
#17
I'm sure someone mentioned this project a while back but I can't find it now. Anyhoo if this report is to be believed then it looks like solar road surfaces may be a winner longterm. And, unintended consequences notwithstanding, that could be a good thing.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/11/3657220/solaroad-producing-energy/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tptop3
#18
Techmology and Scientism / Serious science
May 06, 2015, 11:05:38 AM
I just love this item

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-32598767

QuoteAfter 17 years of fruitlessly searching the galaxy, Australian scientists have discovered the source of mysterious radio signals hitting a telescope.
#19
Techmology and Scientism / Art Tech for Iceland
April 10, 2015, 07:04:15 PM
Not new tech, not even news really [2011] just a new slant on an old problem - the butt ugliness of electricity pylons. This is a pretty cool solution. Nice one Choi Shine.

http://www.choishine.com/port_projects/landsnet/landsnet.html
#20
Aneristic Illusions / Daily Telegraph: Shock, horror
February 25, 2015, 10:17:32 PM
Now there is even less reason to take the Torygraph seriously as a newspaper
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/peter-oborne/why-i-have-resigned-from-telegraph
QuoteThe coverage of HSBC in Britain's Telegraph is a fraud on its readers. If major newspapers allow corporations to influence their content for fear of losing advertising revenue, democracy itself is in peril.
I don't much like Oborne's politics but it seems like he is taking quite a principled stand. Yay for principles.
#21
 "Legendary author Maya Angelou dies" http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/28/us/maya-angelou-obit/

I've got nothing clever to say about this sad news but my world feels poorer for her passing.
#22
The real bitch about being a broke, friendless, atheistic Scrooge at Christmas time is when you see the perfect Crimbo gift for someone you don't actually know, and who almost certainly wouldn't be comfortable receiving a gift from you, you are totally buggered. UNLESS you are a Peedee faghag in which case you know just what to do . So here ya go Cain, here's a little something for you

http://www.philosophyfootball.com/offers/

#23
Aneristic Illusions / Trolling like the Tories
May 11, 2011, 03:29:45 PM
If this is how they deal with a simple thing like replying to an MP's letter then I can't help feeling that they are losing the plot. Ministry of Silly Walks anyone . . .?

QuoteMP says letter from No 10 used false name and signature
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13364121
#25
Principia Discussion / /observation
July 21, 2010, 02:42:49 PM
I met the Buddha on the road
He was shagging a ladderback chair.
I carefully considered whether I was obliged to kill him
but, on balance, I decided that he was dead in the water anyway.
So I just went on my way -
But I've never looked at chairs in quite the same way . . .
#26
Aneristic Illusions / Hang it all
May 07, 2010, 12:47:30 AM
Wow - the UK election finally got a bit interesting . . . they are predicting a hungish sort of Parliament with the Tories having the biggest vote but not enough for a clear win. The interesting bit,though, is the hundreds of people queuing in the rain for hours and then being locked out and refused a vote, because they ran out of ballotpapers or somesuch bullshit - and not just in one constituency, currently they are saying its at least 5. The excitement may give me the vapours . . .
#27
Bring and Brag / Think Pieces
March 19, 2010, 06:28:07 PM


needs a title . . .

#28
Unfortunately many of them seem woefully underqualified . . .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8565258.stm


QuoteOne in 10 children thinks the Queen invented the telephone, a survey of children's science knowledge suggests.

Others gave credit for the invention to Charles Darwin and Noel Edmonds.

One in 20 of the 1,000 pupils polled thought Star Wars character Luke Skywalker or Richard Branson had been the first to set foot on the Moon.

Some 60% of nine- and 10-year-olds thought Sir Isaac Newton discovered fire, the survey for science campaign Birmingham Science City found.

Despite these misconceptions, more children want to win a Nobel prize for science than the X Factor.

:horrormirth:

QuoteIn fact, nearly 70% of nine and 10-year-olds would like to be famous for winning a Nobel Prize in science, yet this drops to only 33% among 11 to 15-year-olds.

I will never see Newtonian physics in the same way again - or the Queen, come to think of it . . .
#29
Aneristic Illusions / Hypocrisy is the new black
March 09, 2010, 12:53:43 AM
Or should that be - hypocrisy is the new black pink

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/03/anti-gay-senator-im-gay

#30
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/mar/07/vlatko-vedral-interview-aleks-krotoski

QuoteVlatko Vedral: "I'd like to explain the origin of God"

Quantum physicist Vlatko Vedral thinks he has found what the universe is made of: information.

My partner just linked me this piece with the comment, "its a bit simplistic" . . .

I love that when I watched the interview he describes himself as a physicist, therefore a simpleton. I also love any scientist who takes a wrecking bar to the whole idea of binary opposites. [as an anthropologist I didn't actually cheer when I heard that Claude Levi-Strauss had died but I am filled with anticipation for the destruction testing of his ideas about binaries; The Raw and the Cooked anyone?] No I am not an intellectual Luddite some of my most delicate work has been done with a wrecking bar, they are also good for finding cracks and gently prying til you let the light in. 

also - The first 10 mins or so of the video will feel quite homely to the locals round here


tl;dr version;- the universe is made of information and just needs a bit of uncertainty to power it . . .
#31
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/willgompertz/2010/02/40_wild_birds_play_a_gibson_le.html

I used to keep zebra finches but they never rocked like these guys . . .

#32
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-dc-robertson-haiti,0,1175550.story

how can Amurrica expect to be taken seriously as a world power when it demonstrates this level of moronic superstitious crap on a daily basis? I just want to keep banging my head against a wall until the pain goes away


aaaaarrrrrrghh!!!





edit for orphan ellipsis
#33
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8423340.stm

Rage Against the Machine is this years Christmas no 1!!!

well, fuck me sideways . . .
#34
In LMNO's thread Fact check, plz Roger said
QuoteSilly English people.    :lulz:

No wonder you had to hire Germans to run your country.


Here's something to give you  a laugh Roger -I'm not actually sure that there has ever been an English monarch of the Kingdom of England. The Neanderthals came over then there was the tribal times, then the Romans [Italian] then the dark ages - more tribalism. The Angles and Saxons were germanic, the Normans were French, King Arthur was mythical. Our favourite hero king, Richard the Lionheart didn't speak English and hardly set foot in the damn country, his evil brother John did deign to live here and was repaid for that ridiculous affectation by revolting Barons who made him sign Magna Carta.  The Tudors were Welsh, the Stuarts started out Scots and ended up Dutch and when they ran out of Dutchmen we were taken over by the Germans, from Hanoverians  [the people not the horses] to our current deeply beloved Saxe-Coburg-Gothas. Oops sorry I meant the House of Windsor. Are you still laughing because it really is utterly giggleworthy. Oh, and then there was Monty Python, which is just about appropriate I suppose
#35
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / WoW just WoW!
November 26, 2009, 10:32:45 PM


http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/26/depeche-mode-martin-gore
QuoteIn one of this year's loonier lawsuits, Depeche Mode's Martin Gore has been subpoenaed by an American videogamer and asked to testify on the subject of "alienation". Erik Estavillo is suing the makers of World of Warcraft, alleging that the game has alienated him from the real, orc-less world.

According to the San Jose, California resident, World of Warcraft is a "harmful virtual environment" and its developers follow "sneaky and deceitful practices". Despite this, Estavillo admits he "relies on videogames heavily for the little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life". He just wants World of Warcraft to cost less money. And to stop making him so sad.
and the guy is a real trier too
QuoteThe gamer's past grievances, all unsuccessful, include a suit against Microsoft, claiming a broken Xbox 360 caused him undue stress; a claim against Sony, alleging they violated his First Amendment rights by banning him from their network; and a claim against Nintendo, arguing that by blocking certain Wii software they interfered with his inalienable right to seek happiness.

this guy has made my day
#36
http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news685.php

QuoteTHE HIPPY, HIPPY SHAKEDOWN

BREAKING NEWS.... THE BIG GREEN GATHERING HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN BY POLICE!

The Big Green Gathering, a fixture in the alternative calendar, was due to return after two years this week. 15–20,000 people were expected to turn up on Wednesday (29th) to the site near Cheddar, Somerset, for Europe's largest green event - a five-day festival promoting sustainability and renewable energy, with everything from allotments to alternative media. Hundreds of staff and volunteers are already on site, and its cancellation comes just days before gates were due to open. Organisers, most of whom work for nothing, are gutted. One told SchNEWS "We are so disappointed not to be having this year's gathering – it means so much to so many people".


Start the party guys the smelly hippies and weido pagans got their collectivist ass whooped Hooray!!!
#37
Aneristic Illusions / the pen - ultimate solution
July 09, 2009, 01:23:16 PM

Just a quick slap in the eye with a blood orange for any of you still harbouring quaint old-fashioned views of us Brits as bumbling, cuddly, NICE people who only want a good cup of tea and a crumpet to make us happy. Well apparently some of us want MURDER on the high seas to make us feel all warm and fuzzy . . .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8141069.stm
#38
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6606526.html

Title:
System behavior modification for maintenance of chaos
Document Type and Number:
United States Patent 6606526

Abstract:
An accessible parameter of a chaos embodying system of a physical or biological type is monitored by extraction of measurement data and recordation thereof on a return map as a dynamic representation of the system activity, from which the magnitude and timing of intervention is determined and applied to the system in order to sustain chaos behavior.



QuoteSpano Mark L., Ditto William L. and In Visarath

Maintaining chaos in physical and biological systems
Mark L. Spano , William L. Ditto and Visarath In US Naval Surface Warfare Center, White Oak Laboratory,
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA 20903; Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Physics, Atlanta, Georgia, USA 30332

Although for many complex systems the appearance of chaotic behavior may be something to be avoided and perhaps to be controlled, chaos may actually be desirable in, and may enhance the function of, other systems. Possible examples are the functioning of the brain and the mixing of fluids. We have developed a general methodology for maintaining chaos in such systems. The method is based on the return map of the experimental data and requires only small, very infrequently applied perturbations of a single system parameter. It does not require any model equations for, or a priori knowledge of, the system dynamics. This "anticontrol" of chaos has been successfully implemented in a simple experiment based on a magnetoelastic ribbon.


Book of abstracts
ICND-96
#39

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8089498.stm
Quote

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett is recovering after being injured by a charging cow in Derbyshire.

The incident happened on Saturday while Mr Blunkett was out walking on his 62nd birthday with his guide dog Sadie in the Peak District.

It is believed the cow ran at the dog and while trying to protect her, the blind MP fell and was trampled.

He suffered a broken rib and "painful bruising" but was declared well enough to attend a Labour Party meeting later.

A spokesman for Mr Blunkett said: "He has a broken rib and a lot of painful bruising, but he's all right and, given the critical nature of the political circumstances at the moment, he is going - albeit extremely slowly - to be in London this week, doing his job."

had to share - sorry