tingilinde

on zelensky

A link to a short documentary on Zelenskyy

a tip of the hat to Dewayne

 

lessons

Radio Open Source continues with its Ukraine series.  This time a discussion of some lessons learned so far and a range of potential futures.  What should we hope for?  about 50 minutes of audio

snip

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Lessons learned this hour, from a tyrant’s unspeakable war on Ukraine, and it’s not over yet. It’s a war about everything, it turns out: barbarity on the ground and from the air over Ukraine. Nuclear confrontation looks all too possible. It’s a test of democracy facing a dictator; it’s a spectacle of sickening inhumanity, out of control. So what are we absorbing? We’re in collaboration here with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, in a radio/podcast series we’re calling In Search of Monsters. We’ve got three guests this hour from the rising generation of scholars of international politics. Emma Ashford is a Russia-watcher, Scottish-born, senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council. She wrote the book forthcoming Oil, The State, and War. Stephen Wertheim is a historian at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace. His big book Tomorrow, the World is about universal military supremacy for the US: that was an idea born in the panic after Hitler rolled over France in the spring of 1940, and it’s been a fact ever since. David Kang travels all of Asia and seems to study it inch by inch, and teaches it at the University of Southern California.

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on meta

It makes sense to look at Second Life and perhaps the MUDs and MOOs that came before.  Here's a look at the past two decades of Second Life - where it is and what that might mean for Facebook. 

 

the stoats of ash wood

a new e-cargo bike

High quality e-cargo bikes start at around $5k and go up from there.  If you have safe enough roads they can replace a car for most local trips.  Tern makes some of the best.  They removed the bells and whistles and have a $3k model which should be good enough for most people.    A quick look from Bike Shop Girl.

 

 

 

rocky road

I remembered the special road surface used on the crawlerway to move Saturn Vs from the VAB to the launch pad.  

It turns out they're still  using the special mix.

 

 

ungreasing the wheels

Kamil Galeev on sabotaging the Russian war effort.

a tip of the hat to Jim

 

need to get away from it all?

Writing a book or ...?  Why not Grímsey?  They're putting together a co-working facility.

 

 

putin's puppet

Commentary on Putin's puppet.

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When asked whether he believed the US intelligence community or Putin, Trump said Putin was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial." Trump also recycled nonsense conspiracy theories about the FBI and the Democratic National Committee, and refused to say he supported the findings of US officials over the Russian leader's claims.

And those statements were "what was said publicly," Yovanovitch writes in her memoir. "God only knows what Trump said in the two-hour one-on-one meeting with Putin, a meeting unusual not only for its length but because Trump did not brief US officials on the discussion later. That raised all sorts of questions."

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fairness in sport is different from inclusivity

Sports scientist Ross Tucker on transwomen Lia Thomas.

Testosterone level reduction is not sufficient to fairly compete as a female as other advantages are retained.  Here's another bit of commentary from Ross.

The net result is opportunity is being taken from female athletes.  Many are afraid to speak out and those who have are often labeled transphobic.  They're afraid of losing sponsorships and athletic scholarships. 

I support LGBTQ rights, but playing in a sports category isn't a right.  A 25 year old Olympic sprinter isn't allowed to compete in a high school track meet and a heavy weight boxer doesn't enter the ring with a flyweight. If a transwoman must compete they should compete with men and accept a slight, but not full disadvantage, or they should have their own category.