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Winter 2021 Open Thread

by Bernard Tue Nov 2nd, 2021 at 09:36:01 PM EST

Winter is coming...


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by Bernard (bernard) on Tue Nov 2nd, 2021 at 09:37:34 PM EST
Todays Repubblica
L'uomo sulla Luna grazie al genio di Von Braun. Ma all'epoca nessuno (o quasi) sapeva del suo passato nazista

Il sito Earth Observatory della Nasa descrive Wernher von Braun come il più grande scienziato missilistico della storia. Fu lui a guidare lo sviluppo del razzo Saturn V che portò i primi uomini sulla Luna nel luglio del 1969. Tedesco, naturalizzato statunitense, von Braun era stato un nazista, ma all'epoca questo retroscena non era noto.

"quasi nessuno"? From 1965
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sun Nov 7th, 2021 at 07:47:17 PM EST
V-2 and Saturn V: A Tale of Two Rockets

Allied bombardment missed coordinates of V2 launching pad, 0.5 mile from where I live in The Hague today. Two months later the war was over.

The Royal Air Force mistakenly bombed the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood | March 3. 1645 |

  • 511 fatalities
  • 344 wounded
  • 20,000 people left homeless
  • 3,250 burned out residences
  • 3,241 damaged residences
  • 391 irreparably damaged residences
  • 290 destroyed businesses
  • 5 destroyed churches
  • 9 destroyed schools
  • 10 destroyed public buildings

The Dutch suffered through a Hunger Winter 1944-45 ... 22,000 died.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Nov 7th, 2021 at 10:43:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The real history of the UK Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force is unsurprisingly less admirable than the usual blah-blah.  


She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Mon Nov 8th, 2021 at 04:27:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well. I knew all about Werner (sic) Von Braun when I was seven (thus, circa 1967), having read his SRA Lab card.

But there was this little elision, straight from the 1920s to the 50s... so I only got the nazi bit when I read Gravity's Rainbow, a decade later.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Thu Dec 9th, 2021 at 06:46:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Dante exhibition in Rome
Nelle scorse settimane nell'ambiente novax e nopass è suonato l'allarme per l'inaugurazione - alle Scuderie del Quirinale - della mostra "Inferno" dove è esposta anche la celebre "Porta dell'Inferno" di Auguste Rodin: la coincidenza fra l'apertura della mostra e l'entrata in vigore del Green pass, il 15 ottobre, ha alimentato ancor più le dietrologie.

L'arcivescovo Viganò - in uno dei suoi comizi contro il vaccino e il Green pass - si è scagliato contro "i ricatti di un potere totalitario asservito all'élite. Un potere che si mostra come intrinsecamente malvagio, animato da un'ideologia infernale e mosso da scopi criminali... Questo potere" ha aggiunto "è così convinto di essere ormai riuscito nel suo silenzioso colpo di stato, da sbatterci in faccia con sfrontatezza non solo l'ideologia che lo muove, ma anche la religione a cui si ispira. Proprio oggi al Quirinale - il Palazzo che un tempo fu residenza dei Sommi Pontefici nella Città di Roma - viene inaugurata una mostra emblematicamente intitolata Inferno, celebrata con l'esposizione della Porta dell'Inferno" il cui "bozzetto fu presentato anche all'Esposizione Universale del 1900, a suggello dell'indole massonica e anticattolica di quell'evento".

Does he mean "Jewish"?
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Nov 10th, 2021 at 12:01:27 PM EST
Boogie
running time 01:30:11 (EN, Mandarin)
by Cat on Sat Nov 13th, 2021 at 12:40:46 AM EST
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sun Nov 14th, 2021 at 07:04:38 PM EST
Savage takedown of Zuck-n-blow.
by rifek on Thu Dec 2nd, 2021 at 07:58:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by Bernard (bernard) on Mon Nov 15th, 2021 at 07:30:26 PM EST
by Cat on Wed Nov 24th, 2021 at 05:21:05 PM EST
by Bernard (bernard) on Wed Nov 24th, 2021 at 10:04:33 PM EST
Verein Sterbehilfe
Ein Mitglied kann den Antrag auf Suizidassistenz stellen (Art. 2 Abs. 5 Satz 1 der Statuten), wenn

a) dem Verein die Patientenverfügung, Vorsorgevollmacht und Betreuungsverfügung gemäss Ziff. 1 Satz 1 oder eine gleichwertige Verfügung vorliegt,

b) dem Verein das Zertifikat einer vollständigen Covid-19-Impfung oder -Genesung vorliegt und

c) der weitere Mitgliederbeitrag (Art. 5 Abs. 2 der Statuten) bezahlt ist.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Nov 26th, 2021 at 09:50:54 PM EST
The new variant of SARS-Cov2 won't be called the Nu variant after all, nor the Xi variant either. Meet the Omicron variant.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 09:00:40 AM EST
Only 9 variants left...
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 09:13:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Omicron beats them all

Variant: 21K also known as B.1.1.529

21K appears to have arisen in November 2021, possibly in South Africa. Early sequences are predominantly from South Africa, though also detected in Botswana, Israel, Belgium and Hong Kong.

New Corona Variant #B.1.1.529 Named Omicron

In South Africa there was apathy to get vaccinated, now with a rapid spread of Omicron variant this may change.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 09:57:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
um, no.

  1. There was the mRNA "freezer" problem proceeding from the variant "discovery" of 2020. Cold truth: South Africa won't be able to store these COVID vaccines. Here's why
  2. Then, there was EU +1 AstraZenca lend/lease dumping with J&J-"Leiden vaccine" supply chain embargo problem.
  3. Then came a NATO opposition to "patent waiver"/COVAX pledge problem passing through WTO "reform" d/b/a Africa Left With Few Options for Vaccines, South Africa Says
  4. Most recently, South Africa Rejects Second Batch of COVID-19 Vaccines, This Time From Johnson & Johnson
This is the second batch of vaccines rejected by South Africa, which turned away approximately one million AstraZeneca vaccines earlier in 2020. One study determined that those vaccines, sold to South Africa by the Serum Institute of India, provided little buffer against mild to moderate infections by the COVID-19 variant that is common in the country.

Above all were sub-Saharan lessons learned from HIV/AIDS living lab CONTAINMENT and ebola marketing, to date, not withstanding a decade-long BRICS offensive.

Now? Biden admin announces travel ban for South Africa and 7 other countries, citing new variant

by Cat on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 07:18:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
... while AstraZeneca Plc has no shots for the continent in 2021 and has directed the African Union to negotiate with the Serum Institute of India Ltd., which is making the vaccine on behalf of AstraZeneca. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is the African Union's chairman. [Bloomberg - Jan. 3, 2021]

AstraZeneca was less effective against the Delta variant and India embargoes sending domestic manufactured vaccines overseas.

Outrageous Defense Production Act still blocking necessary raw materials for Indian Serum Institute COVID-19 vaccine production

"Vooma Vouchers": Over 60's to Get Paid for Vaccinating in SA

The vouchers are set to start going out from 4 November, though anyone in the right age group who gets vaccinated from 1 November should receive one. The vouchers are valid for 30 days, and persons will only receive a voucher for their first vaccine dose. Those coming for their second Pfizer dose, for example, are not eligible.

Covid-19 Vaccine detoxing: conversations on social media around ways to remove or "flush out" the vaccine from the body

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 07:56:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
coincidink?
archived
Thu Feb 6th, 2020, US Health Institute Halts South African HIV Study After Experimental Vaccine Found Ineffective
HVTN 702 is part of a larger HIV vaccine research endeavor led by the Pox-Protein Public-Private Partnership, or P5 -- a diverse group of public and private organizations working to build on the RV144 trial. P5 members include NIAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the South African Medical Research Council, which funded HVTN 702; the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), headquartered at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which conducted HVTN 702; Sanofi Pasteur and GSK, which provided study materials; and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program.
Thu Nov 25th, 2021
According to Balloux, the variant could have evolved during a "chronic infection of an immunocompromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient"
by Cat on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 08:33:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Thu Feb 6th, 2020
Sun Dec 13th, 2020
Fri Dec 25th, 2020
"Mutated coronavirus variant from South Africa found in UK"; "Another new COVID strain found in Nigeria, says Africa CDC"
August 31, 2021
"South African scientists have detected a new coronavirus variant, C.1.2, with multiple mutations"
Wed Sep 1st, 2021
"C.1.2 was first detected in May [2020], the alert said, but Delta is still the dominant variant spreading in South Africa and the world."

reference
WHO | Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants:Currently designated Variants of Concern (VOCs), Currently designated Variants of Interest (VOIs), Currently designated Variants Under Monitoring, Formerly monitored variants

count 'em

by Cat on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 04:21:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
After Delta Airlines:


by Bernard (bernard) on Sun Nov 28th, 2021 at 11:50:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]

According to Wiki, Xi is not such a "common" Chinese last name, coming only at number 108.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sun Nov 28th, 2021 at 09:34:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Perhaps Chinese characters?

冒 犯 中 國 國 家 主 席 習 近 平

Translation:
".. causing offense to Chinese president Xi Jinping."


'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Nov 28th, 2021 at 10:58:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
China expels Wall Street Journal reporters over 'racist' headline on coronavirus op-ed
At a regularly scheduled news briefing Wednesday a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China objected to an essay published in the Journal's editorial pages earlier this month with the headline, "China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia."
by Cat on Mon Nov 29th, 2021 at 03:49:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Operation Mockingbird - CIA Agents Provocateurs

Fits the Murdoch agents in China, took the CCP long enough!

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Nov 29th, 2021 at 05:59:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Again? Hasn't China already expelled a WSJ journalist one or two years ago? Also for the crime of lèse-majesté?

Are Xi's minions making it an habit? Let's kick a foreign journalist out for Christmas...

by Bernard (bernard) on Mon Dec 13th, 2021 at 07:51:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Met Office: Rare Red weather warning issued. ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️

Storm Arwen giving the fisheries battle a break ...

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 07:26:53 PM EST
from middle-earth
Arwen
by Cat on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 08:40:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It hasn't received much publicity (I only learnt about it when a friend told me off for not wearing one) but Bergamo has just reintroduced the requirement for outdoor masks.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 11:06:57 PM EST
Face coverings will become mandatory again in shops and on public transport in England from next week under a raft of measures to target the new Covid variant, Omicron, the PM has said.

'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Nov 27th, 2021 at 11:10:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm using the word in a very narrow context, of course.
THE deputy speaker of the House of Commons has said MPs can only call Boris Johnson a "liar" in a "very narrow context".

It comes after Ian Blackford was allowed to call Boris Johnson a "liar" during a debate on the Prime Minister's conduct.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Thu Dec 2nd, 2021 at 06:12:20 PM EST
But can he also be called a clown and a "gougnafier"? (very narrow context, of course)
by Bernard (bernard) on Thu Dec 2nd, 2021 at 06:29:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
How to learn not to worry and love your surveillance camera.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sun Dec 5th, 2021 at 04:46:38 PM EST
by Cat on Mon Dec 6th, 2021 at 02:00:42 PM EST
Democrats fall flat with 'Latinx' language declension
Other surveys jibe with Amandi's poll of 800 Hispanic Spanish speakers voters, which has a margin of error of 3.46 percentage points and was completed last month. Pew Research last year found that just 3 percent of Hispanics Spanish speakers use the term Latinx; a Gallup poll this summer pegged the number at 4 percent.
Why?
because some know that path to 'EQUALiTY" is political, not grammatical? because indefinite articles and nouns in any language are INCLUSIVE? Or some because some orthographic signs and symbols simply are not spoken?
by Cat on Mon Dec 6th, 2021 at 05:46:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Disaster striking again in NYC:

by Bernard (bernard) on Tue Dec 7th, 2021 at 09:42:04 PM EST
In Holland we have a saying about German Football: it ain't decided until the team sits in the bus on its way home. 😂

Mercedes Racing CEO Toto Wolff launches 2 protests ... Will the World Championship be decided in the courts ... or will we get a rerun in Abu Dhabi or run-off between Lewis and Max?

Mercedes can't be serious after such a thrilling race season ... a disservice to both the sport and FANS!

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Dec 12th, 2021 at 04:03:48 PM EST
Nothing personal ...



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Dec 12th, 2021 at 04:17:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Second round of discussion, Mercedes adds a barrister ... so sad 🌵

'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Dec 12th, 2021 at 06:17:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mercedes loses face, sportsmanship and both protests



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Dec 12th, 2021 at 07:11:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
... about British boulevard media

[Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf is the worst version in British style ... was shut down after German occupation 1940-45 due to Nazi collaboration, a few left wing newspapers started during the war as underground resistance news pamphlets]

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Dec 13th, 2021 at 08:53:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Ah, the genial and lovable British press...

Always look at the bright side: it has temporarily taken their focus away from the French in general and Macron in particular.

The Macron Obsession - a Very English Virus - The Federal Trust

What is it about England's right-wing journalism and France? The obsessive hate against France's president, Emmanuel Macron, in papers like the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, and Spectator is without precedent.

As news arrived of the death of 27 refugees drowned in the Straits of Dover, the Daily Mail summed up the style and language of the Francophobe press. It blasted the "Tantrum diplomacy of the Tinpot Napoleon: Brexit has long been driving Emmanuel Macron to ever greater heights of irrationality - and now it's costing lives."

The paper added that turning the Channel "into a graveyard is precisely the consequence of the grotesque policies put in place by Macron himself." By any definition this is extraordinary language. Saying the President of France is responsible personally for the deaths in the Channel was a new low in the non-stop Brexit press attacks on Macron.

by Bernard (bernard) on Mon Dec 13th, 2021 at 07:56:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mercedes will not pursue appeal against F1 title-deciding Abu Dhabi result | BBS Sport |

Lewis Hamilton is 'disillusioned' after Abu Dhabi, says Toto Wolff

Safety car will always cause a change in a F1 race ... unfortunate it was in the last 5 laps, team Mercedes could have gone for a tire change on two occasions, they did not! They got the constructor's title ... well done 😖

Otto is such a nice guy ...

'It's not how things should go' - Wolff apologises after Bottas crash ruins Red Bull's Hungarian GP

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Dec 16th, 2021 at 03:26:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by generic on Sun Dec 19th, 2021 at 08:35:19 AM EST
by Cat on Sun Dec 19th, 2021 at 11:47:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Italian trade  and investment agency
Cuba prepara il processo Soberana Plus Torino per gli italiani convalescenti. Un gruppo di italiani tra 19 e 59 anni partecipano alla sperimentazione clinica Soberana Plus Torino, volta a valutare l'immunogeno in pazienti convalescenti Covid-19 e soggetti senza anamnesi di malattia, ma immunizzati con altri prodotti. È a Torino che è iniziato un forte rapporto con la scienza e la medicina cubane, dopo che una brigata di medici ha frequentato quella regione nel mezzo della più grande epidemia di Covid-19 in Italia. Il Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV) è il responsabile dell'intera linea Sovrana di immunogeni anti-Covid-19. In primo luogo, i sieri dei volontari cubani vaccinati con Soberana Plus sono stati inviati all'ospedale Amadeo di Savoia di Torino ed è lì che è nata l'idea per questa sperimentazione. L'immunogeno è già stato testato in studi clinici di fase III di Soberana 02 come terza dose ed è ora utilizzato come booster nello schema con quel prodotto, con Abdala, anch'esso prodotto nel paese, e con il vaccino cinese Sinopharm, studi ancora in fase di sviluppo. In tutti i casi queste combinazioni hanno dato ottimi risultati per aumentare l'immunità degli individui più di cinque volte.
For more details (in English) it looks like you'll have to go to the official voice of the Cuban Communist Party:
While waiting his turn to be medically evaluated for inclusion in the study, Simone Valli, one of 35 Italian volunteers who arrived in the country for this purpose, commented on his decision to participate in the trial, motivated, first of all, by the importance of finding solutions to confront the pandemic, while at the same time supporting Cuba in the media and economic battle surrounding its vaccines.
"We must defend Cuba and socialism, because what Cuba is doing with its public vaccines, with its brigades of doctors around the world, is only possible with socialism," stated the young activist, who has been vaccinated previously with two doses of the Pfizer immunogen.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Dec 24th, 2021 at 05:09:46 PM EST
by Cat on Fri Dec 24th, 2021 at 07:23:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Vesuviolive
"Dimostreremo attraverso la nostra esperienza diretta che Soberana è un vaccino efficace. In termini politici, organizzeremo assemblee e iniziative pubbliche su tutto il territorio nazionale ed elaboreremo un'interrogazione parlamentare in cui si chiederà come mai il Soberana non sia visto come un vaccino valido anche in Europa, nonostante la sua comprovata efficacia. Inoltre, l'Italia ha anche un'autonomia teorica rispetto alle autorità europee, in quanto potrebbe essere autorizzata dall'AIFA a somministrare il vaccino cubano.".
"teorico"
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Dec 24th, 2021 at 10:19:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sun Dec 26th, 2021 at 07:16:42 PM EST

Not often great wealth didn't avoid prosecution ... waiting for a presidential pardon?

The damning testimony that brought Maxwell down | BBC News |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Dec 29th, 2021 at 11:10:04 PM EST

Alan Dershowitz, who denies sexual abuse, spoke on news channel about Ghislaine Maxwell conviction | BBC News |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Dec 30th, 2021 at 05:45:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri Dec 31st, 2021 at 09:48:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Dec 30th, 2021 at 05:46:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
So yeah. Maxwell beat one charge -- the impossible to prove intent to conspire in criminal enterprise. Am I to assume, the yella press is reluctant to air her father's and Epstein's notorious association with Israeli intelligence?  
by Cat on Thu Dec 30th, 2021 at 06:54:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 1st, 2022 at 10:41:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Dec 30th, 2021 at 07:35:58 PM EST
Escape with their lives ...

Marshall fire may have destroyed 1,000 homes in Boulder County, officials say

Environment: To better grasp nuclear winter, scientists study wildfire cloud | National Geographic |

Additional reading ...

How a small nuclear war would transform the entire planet | Nature - March 16, 2020 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 1st, 2022 at 12:27:17 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 1st, 2022 at 12:28:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 1st, 2022 at 12:28:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Superb nature in pictures ...



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 1st, 2022 at 12:29:48 PM EST


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 1st, 2022 at 12:30:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 1st, 2022 at 12:32:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]


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