First Contact? Global Idiocy Contagious?

by

The monumental spread of Digital Mental Disorders  (DMDs) has never been so apparent as it is this morning.  Because while we have potentially  monumental news of possible First Contact with other worlds, the balance of the news flow remains as pathetic as last week’s.

Contact?

On the arXiv.org website, we have the abstract of a new paper on  a mysterious Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) from space that is repeating every 16-days, or so.  What’s more, the abstract found  here, downplays the notion that this is a natural event:

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are bright, millisecond-duration radio transients originating from extragalactic distances. Their origin is unknown. Some FRB sources emit repeat bursts, ruling out cataclysmic origins for those events. Despite searches for periodicity in repeat burst arrival times on time scales from milliseconds to many days, these bursts have hitherto been observed to appear sporadically, and though clustered, without a regular pattern. Here we report the detection of a 16.35±0.18 day periodicity from a repeating FRB 180916.J0158+65 detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst Project (CHIME/FRB). In 28 bursts recorded from 16th September 2018 through 30th October 2019, we find that bursts arrive in a 4.0-day phase window, with some cycles showing no bursts, and some showing multiple bursts, within CHIME’s limited daily exposure. Our results suggest a mechanism for periodic modulation either of the burst emission itself, or through external amplification or absorption, and disfavour models invoking purely sporadic processes.”

What this does is a couple of things.  First, it gives us the inkling that human-scale time (point, shoot, analyze) may be far too fast when looking at deep space radio sources.  Instead, look, point, and shoot again later (for at least 17-days) in order to find repeating sources, comes into focus.

One of the foibles of science is that it tends to be a “right here, right now” business.  This Abstract changes all that.

Since we now know (at least one) FRB has a long time-base, we have to wonder are there many more?

Second point:  Our extensibility gene kicks in.  How many  science projects throughout the course of “modern” science have missed life-changing breakthroughs and discoveries because we did a “point, shoot,analyze?”  Many things are fast, but where’s our search for slow?

Take psychic phenomena, for example.  People get tested for telekinesisi and the results are instantly tabulated.  Might there be real effects, but they just doesn’t show up for 16+_ (or however many) days afters the test subject’s work?

These kind of notions are (to my small mind/limited ways of thinking) VASTLY more important can the “front page snews” of the MainStream Media.  Anyone give a ripo about the crap in New Hampshire dirtytics? Yet, that’s the planet we live on.  Where there are only two viruses that matter right now.

Digital Mental Disorders *(lost people, looking to one another for clues – a terribly disappointing social media supported time-waster) is one.  And this other viral problem?  Well…

Wuhan: It’s Really Worse Than SARS

The numbers out of China continue very grim.  Admitted infections are 40,573 and the death toll is now 910.  And we would not be surprised to see deaths top 1,000 in tomorrow (or Wednesday’s) report.

While the rest of the world is in process of quickly “locking down China” the country’s leader for life is making speeches about the need to “win the people’s war” on the deadly virus.

Obviously, Xi Jinping is becoming worried about economic impacts as “China is shoring up businesses” during the outbreak.,  But, it’s hard to do that when people even suspected of having the virus are being rounded up and tossed into detention.

The problem becomes is we have no reliable figures on any of the cases now.  People in China who maybe just came down with a slight case of the sniffles from a seasonal cold, are being tossed into detention, which could turn into something akin to death camps.  Not our call to make. But, a terrible ethical decision.  Absent good care in these “camps” isn’t this a crime against humanity for those who don’t have the virus?

Meanwhile, however, we can do the math and it’s not good.  Given that there are 910 dead and 40,573 confirmed cases, that’s a 2.24 percent mortality rate.  Compare this with SARS:

“Between November 2002 and July 2003, an outbreak of SARS in southern China caused an eventual 8,098 cases, resulting in 774 deaths reported in 17 countries (9.6% fatality rate)”

Since  cases of Novel Coronavirus are already about five times the rate of SARS, we expect the eventually-admitted death toll could go much higher.  Well into the low thousands seems almost possible.  Although the government of China has a severe economic motivation to under-report everything.

Keep an eye on TenCent? Hope for another screen-snag?

Malpractice at the Oscars

One of the great drivers of modern progress as been the specialization of labor.  In other words, people get the most done with they “do what they’re good at.”

Naturally, when a film award like The Oscars comes out, I’d very much expect the recipients to have comments on the acting craft and compliments for those who were also nominated.  “ You remember in that scene where I…..”  followed by some insightful remarks would have been SO refreshing.

On Point Doesn’t Work

Instead, glad we missed what in the After Action Reports reads like a shit-slinging festival.  Take Bad Pitt, for example.  Calling out Senate republicans doesn’t contribute anything to his  acting profession.

We did like (and appreciate) the  NY Post’s hit on Juaquin Phoenix:  “It was a night of Oscar Speeches For Dummies and Oscar Speeches By Dummies.“ quips what has become the last reliable newspaper in Gotham.

Oh, speaking of blow hards out west, did you catch where 209 mph gust recorded in California, potentially shattering record?  Did PG&E keep the lights on?

We live on a strange planet, indeed.  Where inhabitants work 60-hours a week in order watch train wrecks in their own living rooms and on mobile devices.  .

Markets: Time to Panic, Yet?

Stock futures were down a scosche. Click here before the open to see how much free money the NY Fred Trading Desk has made-up in repo’s and reverse repo’s to keep the action rolling.  Look again this afternoon, too, since they’ve been known to slosh in a bucket or two more at 1:15 PM Eastern, now and then.

Unanswered (like the radio bursts from space) is when does the market wake up to the idea that China is at least partly coming offline?  When will hotel and airline stocks collapse?  And will our tickets for a concert in May at a casino still be good?  We don’t like knowing the future…but here’s an interesting thought:

(Sick, but we have to ask….)  Are Pandemics  inflationary?  I mean think about this for a sec.  If 10% of the world population died…like next week…all their money and assets would still be around.  Presumably, they’d go to the hands of the greedy heirs, who would suddenly have more money than ever…and isn’t more money in the hands of fewer or equal numbers of people (given no change in utility value of goods) almost the postcard definition of  inflationary?

Go think long and hard about this.since the inflationary effects would be offset by businesses cratering.  Something to write your upcoming Nobel Prize in Economics paper about.  Next life, maybe.

Bubble’s away, though, as Tesla’s wild trading continues with the stock up 9% in premarket Monday.

Side Note:  I’m warming up to Elon Musk’s way of thinking, since he’s now aligned with our long-held “delete Facebook” sentiments.  Why,, that’s Gospel According to Ure so either Musk is getting smarter, or dumber…depending how you score things.  We think smarter.

Dredging the Dregs

Do as I say department?  Claim in the Moscow Times that Controversial Scholar Jordan Peterson Treated for Addiction in Russia, caught our eye.  Lots of powerful people don’t like straight-shooters like Peterson, so who knows what’s real.

Need an Uberly Lyft? Urban car usage will be overtaken by ‘greener transportation’ within a decade, research claims.  On the other hand, 20,000 survey people in 31 countries may be missing the point a bit.  What about us ruralites?

Rolling with Kona Blend this morning, so the jittery click-finger couldn’ty resis  Fortune’s Michael Pollan and ‘How Caffeine Created the Modern World’.

Off to run-down  some pigs…no blankets for ’em, but eggs will work just as well.

Write when you get rich,

george@ure.net

90 thoughts on “First Contact? Global Idiocy Contagious?”

  1. Now saying you could have the virus and not display systems out to 24-28 days …… Also one of the cases came into no contact with anyone from China? Lastly – isn’t it a statistical oddity that China would be hit with Pig virus, human virus and bird virus all in a very short period of time?

    • eBay packages from Guangdong arrived January 31. Now we are all sick with flu like symptoms. Coincidence?

    • Could be the same way Cuba was hit with all the diseases in their food chain,the blowing up of the ship at their dock. But then again what can one expect when they live in a corporate dictatorship, where Johnson&Johnson made a reported $35 billion off of a known cancer causing product sold to women,Beyer with its product making billions off from another cancer causing product Round-Up.I wonder if that makes the government a conspirator to murder.!!!

      • Re bayer, if you Google Bayer and it’s parent Corp (I G Farben) it is obvious that there is nothing new under the sun.

  2. G – do you have a knack for distilling the zeitgeist of times here on OUR green EARTH.

    MALPRACTICE – CONgress/DeptState/Dept Defense/CIA/DIA/DEA and who can forget the Fumbling Bumbling Idiots –

    FBI: James Comey/Director – Fired
    Andrew McCabe/Dep. Director – FIred
    Jim Rybiki/Chief of Stff – Fired
    James Baker/General Counsel – Fired
    Bill Pristap/Dir Counter Intel -Fired
    Lisa Page/Office of Gen. Counsel-Fired
    Peter Strzok/Dep Asisst Counter Intel-Fired
    Mike Kartan/Pub Affairs -FIred
    Josh Campbell/Spec. Asisst to Comey-Fired
    Mike Steinbach/Head Nat. Security Div.-Fired
    John Glacalone/predecessor to Steinbach-Fired
    James Turgal/Assist Dir.-Fired
    Greg Power/Top CONgressional Liason-Fired
    Trisha Anderson/Dep.General Counsel-Fired

    If Dirty Cops Run Investigations into: DNC Breach
    Election Interference
    HRC Private Server/eMail Scandel
    Crowd Strike Manipulation

    Could An Argument be made that they were ALL CORRUPT Investigations by FBI???

    No DEEPSTATE.. right marky Mark?

    • Funny how you leave out the much longer list of those that resigned or resigned under pressure(RUP). And you forgot to mention how many of those that have written or are writing books that blast Trump. And these are people he hired himself…You loyalists think your spin is invisible…but it’s so obvious, it’s just stupid.

      • I happen to have worked for a 20-hour day wild man with boundless energy once. Incredible guy but lots of people hated him, but what a mover shaker and doer!

        If you have a big ego, got to check it at the door cuz you wouldn’t last…

      • Left the Resigned and Resigned Under Pressure to keep the discussion about the known/public facts.

        Resigned under pressure of losing ALL of his $$ – see Google founder..whats a matta Sergey? the day after Trump signed Executive Order confiscating ALL $$ of ANYONE connected with Child Sex Abuse & Human Trafficking.

        Show me a Executive/Celeb who Retired Early or Resigned since Trump signed Human Trafficking EO – and I will show you a PEDOPHILE

        These people R SICK! Not sure what That says about a person defending any of them..

      • Mark let me tell you a secret:::::::: the space Time Revolution is going to drive you crazy::::::: and guess who’s behind it yeah Trump and his relative Uncle John

      • Mark,
        Historians have long known that personal memoirs are notoriously bad sources for true facts. Children will not understand but the elders will.

    • I’m waiting for all the arrest and convictions,but like Clinton and locker up it will never happen anymore than the corrupt bankers on wall street were locked up after the housing crash,so don’t hold your breath until that comes about.!!!

  3. Two comments..

    Brad Pitt every right to voice his opinion regardless of profession. Wasn’t Reagan an actor who starred in Bedtime for Bonzo with a monkey…probably a descendent of Trump himself. Trump is a fake billionaire, worth less than Brad Pitt by all accounts, was a reality show host and mobster wannabe in New York. The President of Ukraine was a comedian. Does it really matter what politicians do prior to conning us to vote for them?

    I like most but not all of Brad Pitt’s politics, have contributed to his Make it Right Foundation and he is just a good Midwestern guy. My sister went to school with and had classes with him at Mizzou. My other sister knew his family in Springfield, MO.

    Now about the rag, the New York Post. Calling them decent is like calling Hitler misunderstood. They are disgrace to journalism… as is Fox News…Ask any Journalism professor at Brad Pitt’s Alma mater, or at Northwestern, Columbia University, NYU or University of Southern California. Please George…whenever the truth comes out, the gaslighting begins.

    • I like Pitt as an ACTOR
      But for him to go political epitomized the zeitgeist of America: Me, Me, Me…(Malpractice!_)

      By the way, I would never let my doctor work on my car, LOL

      Specialization of Labor – basis for tech.
      Everyone in a free for all? That Road leads to Rome, my friend.

      • But your doctor does vote right? don’t need a specialization for that now, do we? He has an opinion and has a constitutional right to exercise that opinion in a public forum any damn way he pleases. Or do you T-Rump supporters want to trash the first amendment? And no, a doctor would not work on a car. That’s a weak analogy…But, I would NEVER let a known New York mobster crook like Trump be President. That’s a more plausible analogy.

    • It is a great day,,,Mark is having his usual TDS temper fit, calling our great President Trump names again. His fits , telegraph the signal,,,that the Trump train is on schedule,,!
      Trump has been very busy, preparing the Judicial Branch for the influx of swamp creatures. Every speech at rallies, he mentions the number of new judges the senate has approved,,he is loading the weapon to strike back at those who defile our great country, justice without punishment is ,,not justice. Lady Justice has a sword..It does not do any good to arrest criminals, if the courts let them go , and I am talking about those above the law.
      Human trafficing is the main crime ,,it is worse than plain slavery, it is satanism,child sacrifice.
      The truth is difficult to absorb, but when you are made aware of the horrible crimes going on, it becomes really hard to put up with the likes of Mark , promoting the satanists.
      BUCKLE UP, they had 3 years , now it is Trump’s turn

      • Darrell,
        You said…” Mark is having his usual TDS temper fit, calling our great President Trump names again.”

        Oh…when Trump does it in a daily basis, sometimes 10 or more times a day…that’s ok huh?

        …and that doesn’t include the hundreds of tweets. When he said he would be a record setting President, I didn’t think it would be tweets he would be setting a record fir. Get a grip. You T-Rumpers are clueless. Can’t save a person that doesn’t want to be saved.

      • “Trump has been very busy,”

        TOBD.. DJT is going to go down in history as the hardest working president in history…

        Ok someone is going to mention golf…
        I once had a doctor that prescribed two rounds of golf per week.. the reason..you have to relax in order to play.. I worked extremely long hard hours seven days a week..people in high stress jobs should play golf…

      • MickeyD,
        I can assure you that will never happen. Just like your namesake that I haven’t stepped a foot into in over 15 years and counting …I stand by my beliefs and will never waiver

    • “Trump is a fake billionaire, worth less than Brad Pitt by all accounts”

      I don’t know how they do it there.. but.. Here.. you have to have colateral in order to get a loan or buy something.. a man that takes one of his helecopters to work every day.. ( before he was elected) has somthing especially when he ownes his own line up of airlines..

      https://www.reviewjournal.com/life/travel/these-are-the-planes-donald-trump-owns/

      I think Brad Pit is a decent guy and he believes what he is saying.. comes from a decent family and has midwest work ethics.. great kid…. and he can say whatever he wants and a piece of paper doesn’t make any difference at all….I guess I am not sure why he is being dragged into the presidential mess so he says congress sucks.. I say it all the time and no piece of paper .. so what if his opinion is opposite of mine.. I bitch and moan and offer my opinion all the time.. personally I think the whole bunch needs to be voted out of office.. but then I don’t need a coloring book page to make that decision or elaborate that opinion or the decisions that is made…. each of us formulates our opinions on what we know from what we experience in life..a piece of paper doesn’t make any difference at all.. we still have our own exposeurs and information cycles..yes no.. maybe.. we decide individually.. of course that is just my opinion..

    • Brad Pitt and anyone else has the right to voice their own opinion on their own time and in an appropriate venue. Most people watching the Oscars(I don’t) probably don’t want to be lectured on politics, and the management has every right to prohibit political talk on their time! It’s not good for business and that’s the end of it.

  4. Back in the days when Star Trek was new Deep Space communication coming and going within the time frames of the weekly show were easy to get past the viewing community save for a few. Since then the idea of radio waves from Space has always left a question in my mind as to what alien tech would be nutty enough to use radio waves? … Other than we primitives? The vast majority of reported alien encounters and communications talk about telepathic communications which seem to have no limits to distance or time spent in transit. Or the observed effect that happens when one, is it a quark?, is changed which changes its matched other half in the exact same way no matter how far apart they are? We’ve got to work on our communications skills before we ever start picking up threads of alien talk around the Universe.

    Re: The Oscars. I skimmed the Fox News articles this morning looking for viewership numbers. That subject didn’t seem to be reported. Wonder why?

    Pandemics having an inflationary effect is an interesting thought, which is why I show up almost every day here George. But I think it would only be so outside of a Communist country. I’m sure the Chinese hate taxes just like we do but their version of the IRS could probably teach ours a thing or two about finding assets.

    Thanks for another great edition George!

    • “Re: The Oscars. I skimmed the Fox News articles this morning looking for viewership numbers.”

      Phew.. you did more than I did on the Oscars.. LOL LOL LOL LOL…

      the Oscars to me is sort of like … PORN…. all of the visual none of the action.. they basically pat themselves on the back…I have met a few through the years working in health care.. obviously I was no more impressed with the majority of them than I am with our representitives in congress… I remember one that came in to visit the mother of another actor.. he kept saying to me.. do you know who I am.. LOL .. my response was.. do I look like I truly care who you are.. LOL..a real jerk.. but then there are some that are super sweet and nice great sense of humor..( I got the best recipe from one old guy I took care of.. greatest home made alfredo sauce.. his family gave me his favorite photo of him to remember him by.. )

      https://blueriverd.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/6a00d834516a0869e201b7c7e563bb970b-450wi.jpg

      I am going to venture a bet.. that not once did they ask you what you thought about anything that is being voted on.. Just a guess..
      A way to showcase themselves.. put on the glitter and the glamour and strut around the stage.. a great way for some actor or actress that is a has been to be seen and someone say.. hey isn’t that whats their name..

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILj_pmK68S4

  5. Is the deadly Noravirus the only thing to concern ourselves with?

    I came to the table at our regular family Sunday dinner last evening to hear my wife say “Don’t tell your dad”. Too late, tell me what? Son #2 had bought a new (used) car and financed it through the dealer. Stupid high-interest rate, go to see your mom at the bank tomorrow and refinance it. My wife says we don’t write car loans anymore unless they are for electric vehicles.

    What the Flip, who’s stupid flipping idea is that?! Did the bank and its executives decide to take thier brains out and play with them for Pete’s sake? What kind of crap are they smoking now for crying out loud. DId they consider any of their current account holders? That’s it, we’re out of their. Not having a bunch of numbnuts handling our accounts. The rant was stopped there when I realized I was violating my own rule for Sunday Dinner etiquette.

    And that is why I told him to not tell you at the table. Said the lovely wife.

    • IN ORDER TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR, the rules are changed. IF you have been paying attention, there is a GLOBAL TRANSORMATION going on!!! The only way to completely change the business model across the countries – they did it with immigration/refugee resettlement/open borders. The next GREAT WAVE IS UPON US…it is called Man-Made Climate Change….thus….out of your gas guzzlers people!!! Onto electric bikes, scooters, cars, etc. BEFORE or AFTER they have the population in check, They ALWAYS start with the BANKS….then it will trickle on down from there.

  6. What’s odd to me is that they have continued to let these people fly all over the world, and now they are quarantining them….seems to me, like they are seeding the continents perfectly, since it’s so uncontrollable, and they don’t even know the infection, contagion data.

  7. We must remember that, by and large and with VERY few exceptions (Ronald Reagan being one, Chuck Heston another), actors are unqualified for success in any meaningful trade or technology, so they spend their adult lives portraying other people – whether real or fictional. A friend terms it this way: ‘“they can’t hold down a real job, so they play pretend for a living.”

    Yes, actors/actresses carry on a long tradition once prized by Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. The tradition was prized because thespians took the focus off of the actions of ruling class while providing escapism for the masses. Over time the coin flipped, with the ‘career’ carefully evolving into a socio-psychological tool to influence the minds of the ever-impressionable masses. The natural extension of that train of though is targeted political satire and highly critical stances on current issues.

    • Don Rickles and George Carlin were both…. truth to power speakers….in their own way and words..they put them in their place….and spoke their opinions…and…’cut’m to the bone’…

    • Despite your great service to this country, what makes you any more qualified to express your opinion than an actor or celebrity?

      Most actors and celebrities are highly educated. People like James Franco have two masters and a PhD, X-files star David Duchovny has a masters from Yale, Brian May, the legendary guitarist from Queen has a doctorate in astrophysics, Big Bang Star, Mayim Bialik has PhD in neuroscience, Ken Jeong, of Hangover fame is a Doctor, Shaquille O’Neal has a doctorate and is taking his LSAT to become an attorney. Bradley Copper has his Masters degree, Sigourney Weaver has her undergrad from Stanford and a masters from Yale. Meryl Streep has a masters from Yale, Natalie Portman graduated from Harvard with a psychology degree, Conan O’Brien graduated from Harvard, Ashley Judd earned a ,asters degree from Harvard and is working on a PhD in public policy at UC Berkeley. Jodie Foster graduated with honors from Yale and speaks French, German, Italian and Spanish fluently, Eva Longoria has her masters degree from Cal State Northridge, Quincy Jones daughter, Rashida Jones of Parks and Rec fame among others, graduated from Harvard. One of the more intense actors, Ed Norton graduated from Yale, Lisa Kudrow of ”Friends” fame graduated with honors from Vassar, The Office and Jack Ryan Star John Krasinski graduated from Brown with honors, Another Office Star, Mindy Kalining graduated from Dartmouth, John Legend, unlike Trump who cheated his way through the school, actually got a degree form Penn and is respected worldwide. Emma Watson graduated from Brown and is a Visiting fellow at Oxford, Angela Bassett has a masters degree from Yale.

      I could go on and on Warhammer…Younhave zero idea what it takes to become successful on screen and stage, so don’t “ACT” like you do.

      My nephew was a star on Broadway and now has moved to London to pursue a career on their equally famous West End. He was a brilliant straight “A” student and can memorize a script in a day…that’s what theater and film want…brilliant actors that can perform and use their intelligence in a timely way to keep down costs. Most, if not all theater actors are equally intelligent…I would want to hear all of their opinions, because they ARE much smarter than you or I in many ways.

      Are their exceptions? Of course. There are Caribbean Island degreed doctors, self made trades people, Opportunistic realty show and TV acting goons, the list goes on.

      But…for you to say they (the actors and celebrities) can’t hold a real job…WOW! That’s just so irresponsible.

      • I would like to quote a friend

        Joe M
        @StormIsUponUs
        ·
        55m
        To every swampbeast, #pedowood entertainer, D.C stooge or Deep State lackey – BE WARNED! Don’t think #TheStorm won’t eventually arrive at your doorstep and suck you into the funnel of justice. You’re in a descending list of priorities – your number just isn’t up yet. #PAIN

      • Well, Mark, it is the “entertainment industry,” right. The Academy Awards, not ‘The View’ or ‘Face the Nation.’ And the entertainment industry is all about fueling our imaginatIons, not pulling us down into the mud-wrestling fight in DC. The thespian diatribe is akin to a Nobel Prize winner criticizing Brad Pitt’s acting – not relevant nor appropriate for the Nobel ceremony. Thanking those who helped one win their Oscar would be most appropriate instead of jumping off-track into politics, alienating members of the movie paying public in the process, many of whom are Republican or who voted for Trump and taking advantage of a global audience that is not tuning in for political critique. There are reasons TV ratings are steadily dropping for the H-Wood self-love fest, and blathering about politics is high on that list. BTW, a favorite quote of mine is “I disagree with what you are saying, but I will die for your right to say it.” I value your opinion and I thank you for sharing it. FWIW, I stand solidly behind my comments.

      • Hey, what’s wrong with my medical degree from the University of Grenada? Fish and human innards are similar, kind of…

        Point is, be careful throwing them throw away lines…

    • One more thing that really irks me Warhammer is that in YOUR opinion, it’s not ok for actors to speak because you wrongly think they are qualified, but it’s OK for junior college drop outs like Hannity, Limbaugh and Beck to spout their vitriol and pounson our airwaves?

      This is what’s wrong with America. We downplay the educated and call them elites…and we prop up the idiots and call them Medal of Freedom recipients and worse…PRESIDENT!!!!!

      • “has a masters from Yale, ”

        Most of the schools you mentioned mark are really good schools yup even Berkley lol.. but my god YALE.. not to dis any school each has great qualified professors.. but YALE.. except for the study on how to make a bong out of toilet tubes and beer cans .. I cant think of any study or thesis etc.that I’ve read except one and it escapes me what it was about now Lol .. it’s got a horrible reputation as a preppy party fest for little rich kids..where great grandpa wanted its descendants to have the opportunity to display a degree…so his money went there..

        I for one appreciate the wisdom that WH shares with us.. the real world experience. His opinion holds great merit for myself..
        But then I am an unedjumicared guy no displayed paper.. my life has been real world with very few breaks along the way. I formulate my opinions off of the crap I read see and experience..the way we all do. An education is a wonderful thing and opens a lot of doors.. but. It does not necessarily make their opinion any more right or credible than the guy dumping the waste baskets.
        All it says is they had the money and tenacity to stick it out for x years.. to learn and explore the written word with guidance from their professors..

      • Folks tune into Hannity or Rush specifically to hear their vitriol, just as libs listen to Maddox. And according to Wikipedia, “Two weeks short of completing the coursework for a degree, Brad Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles, where he took acting lessons and worked odd jobs.’ So Mr. Pitt is also a college drop out. And Joaquin Phoenix never attended a university, so he never even dropped-in.

      • Mark, I realize your little tiff is with Warhammer this time but I want you to know your elitist angst has become quite enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.

      • I have no problem with actors/entertainers giving their opinions…..it’s part of our American freedoms…..but I do not have to agree with it just because they have achieved fame as such.

        What I do not care for is the smarmy attitude that comes from a lot of the left, where they ridicule anyone who would dare to disagree with them.

        Not a fan of Hannity, i’ve listen to Limbaugh occasionally and am not offended by him, agree with him sometimes and disagree others. I like Beck for some reason or other. Does that make his word sacrosanct? Logically the left is often just plain loony and often hypocritical.

      • I actually feel bad that I dissed YALE… they have good teachers and any education is a great one.. I just haven’t read anything from the archives there..I don’t know anyone that has actually graduated from there.. etc..

      • Mark Tweaked mine a little bit to NC, with his comments on a degree equaling a better perspective and value than real life experiences…… LOL LOL LOL LOL almost as much as an IQ equals brains and value.. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL..when the only difference is the focus in direction of their reading and application and their ability to take advantage of the opportunities that pass everyone by… LOL LOL LOL LOL

  8. George,

    I missed the significance of the FRB story when it first came out. In other words, I didn’t read it. Thanks for bringing it up. I intend to keep my eye on it, because I have a keen interest in such things most days.

    I’ve noticed how that since the coronavirus arrived we haven’t heard much on the protests in Hong Kong. Did it shut them down or has the all seeing eye of Sauron…er, I mean the MSM shifted focus? Perhaps there’s more to this than a simple virus outbreak?

    Finally, in regards to the Oscars and the acting profession in general, many times in my life I’ve needed the opinion of my peers, plumbers, farmers, electricians, mechanics, welders, HVAC techs, doctors, all the other skilled trades and even family members. NEVER have I needed the opinions of actors or even professional athletes. I suspect that trend to continue into perpetuity.

    • I have a great plan for HWood figs wanting to jump species to politics.
      We didn’t ask ’em…so please don’t confuse box office revenue with clarity of thought.
      HWood could learn greatly from Elon Musk’s #deleteFacebook!

      The HWood types forget they are “hired shells” of real people. Experts.

      • All those actors/actresses giving speeches are walking testimonials to the Dunning-Krueger effect.

        James Johnson, ex-nuke

    • “many times in my life I’ve needed the opinion of my peers, plumbers, farmers, electricians, mechanics, welders, HVAC techs, doctors, all the other skilled trades and even family members. NEVER have I needed the opinions of actors or even professional athletes. I suspect that trend to continue into perpetuity.”

      We think alike ther Maj… LOL… they get paid a lot of money to act.. OH WAIT.. isn’t that what our Legislators do.. get paid to tell us crap that everyone knows they can’t or won’t do.. LOL…
      as far as the microbursts … I didn’t read it either… and yet that is one of my favorite places to mosey around reading crap that no one else wants to read….
      I am curious.. I wonder with the new series of short micro bursts How is the BLACK KNIGHT.. reacting.. is it changing courses.. showing signs of more active transmission.. ( it has always transmitted a signal.. but what is it doign now is my question)….
      brings up the stories about the second coming.. the watchers..
      only time will tell..
      Then.. you think.. we made the new space force.. WHY would we need that….. we know there are stories and information that we don’t hear or if we do hear or read about them we discard them into the circular filing cabinet as yeah sure right.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brawJsSUtxk

      .So.. did The president hear a story or find out something that made him think.. we should be prepared..

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mwawAiNFRk&feature=emb_logo

      • Look into Donald Trumps Uncle John – Harvard physicist/Black Projects – the scientist US Govment assigned to read and translate Tesla’s papers/works after he passed. Clues and signs everywhere – like the blue beam – power outage in NYC..

  9. George,
    Regarding Trump’s proposed budget:
    Looks like the $1 trillion/year deficits are being bumped up to around $2 trillion/year.
    That doesn’t include another $1 trillion flooding the Repo market.
    But there’s no money for hungry kids or sick people?
    Any brilliant insights on this?
    Best, Mike.

      • One problem regardless of whats passed – 3% growth for 15 years – we haven’t had 3% growth for the last 10 yrs. as an aside when the employment # got revised for 2019 we lost 522,000 jobs. Looking in the rear view mirror etc

    • The debt more or less has to double every four years and Trump is going to double the debt on the Space Force.

      G and commentators point out an alien signal was sent toward us 500,000 light years ago. The signal senders must be almost here by now. Get ready to panic!!

      Try to get into the Space Force space.

    • Well you have to remember what Mencken said back in 1926.

      No one in this world so far as I know-and I have searched the records for years and employed agents to help me-has ever lost money by underestimation the intelligence of the great mass”s of the plain people-nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.!!!

      And that hasen’t changed in all those years, so jump in and go with the flow you can’t change it and you will only wear yourself out with the effort,you would be better off just sitting back and chucking at their theatrics,like watching the Three Stooges.!!!

    • “Looks like the $1 trillion/year deficits are being bumped up to around $2 trillion/year.”

      It has to… forget about what we have to spend for a minute to run the country..
      The interest payments on our past spending spree where we b ok borrowed so much money so gold toothed willie could get more. Should be almost a trillion by itself.. the next year the deficit will be double what next years will be..
      Ten million dollar loaf of bread won’t be to far down the road..a complete collapse has to happen.
      JMHO

  10. We’re getting signals sent half a billion years ago, in my book that’s hard to call a “first contact” even though it might be technically.

    You asked about ruralites? Those folks would be much easier to manage if they moved to the city, get them all into one broadcast market.

    • “We’re getting signals sent half a billion years ago, in my book that’s hard to call a “first contact” even though it might be technically.”

      Yes Rob..with conventional communications.. for arguements sake if the micro bursts are communication transmissions.. what if with that being the case … those bursts were superluminal communication microbursts and not just decay.
      Then the transmissions could just be a day or two old depending on origination.
      Just saying we don’t know..

  11. Years ago my mom taught me how to watch the Oscars: watch the red carpet and the opening monologue. Then turn off the tv. Next day read how the movies people loved (like for example Avengers Endgame) didn’t win best picture.

    I stopped reading the anti automobile article when the “expert” predicted that in Moscow people would be switching to alternative modes of transportation like bicycles. So tell me: will the “expert” be riding a bicycle in winter?

  12. Y’know, I read the blurb from arXiv and the image that popped into my head was a beacon — a multiplanar, rotating, unidirectional transducer, broadcasting constantly, which we can “hear” only when Earth is within the transmission cone of that transducer…

    “Keep an eye on TenCent? Hope for another screen-snag?”

    Naw, Taiwan Times and the Taipei dailies are already doing this, but I suspect a Party representative has advised Tencent’s board by now that another “hiccup” would be a fatal mistake.

  13. Gotta wonder how long will it take for the aerosolized Coronavirus to drift all over the world on the air currents. How long it it takes for the Fukushima radiation to do so?

    • How long before we start feeling the breaks in supply chains? According to Chris Martenson latest video he refers to an article that says 97% of our antibiotics come from China. The last penicillin plant in the U.S. shut down in 2004. Everything, pretty much, comes from China and stocks Wal-Mart, Target, Cosco, you name it.

  15. George

    “Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are bright, millisecond-duration radio transients originating from extragalactic distances.”

    Could it possibly be that an extremely ancient civilization covering many galaxies has established their own version of WWV? This would be used by their star ships to maintain navigation and communications equipment.

    I don’t believe in the estimated age of the universe but lets just use that as a given. At 13.5 billion years of age the universe would have at least 3 periods were intelligent life could emerge. That is if we use humans as our model. The first wave of intelligent beings to emerge if successful and don’t destroy themselves would have established networks of bases all over the universe. Maybe their signals are what were hearing? Actually there would be many waves of development of life, but it would be impossible to calculate the number.

  16. George, something just happened that I must tell you about because you understand the woo-woo stuff.
    Today I bought an LED bulb to replace the flourescent bulb in my kitchen light fixture. The fixture has a glass outer section held by three screws. Two of the screws had a small clear silicone washer where the screw contacts the glass but the third did not. Ok, so I put in the new bulb, put back the glass and screws.

    Six hours later I’m preparing dinner (I’m in a different time zone), which included some leftover vegetable soup that was in a glass jar that has a metal screw-on cover. I emptied the jar, washed it, and also the cover, which I placed upside down, with the jar on the kitchen counter on top of a paper towel. After finishing dinner in the dining room I came back into the kitchen and I noticed that there was something on the cover. It was the missing small clear silicone washer for the third screw of the light fixture! A real WTF moment! No one else here with me George, there is no rational explanation! Is this Twilight Zone stuff or what?

    • Happens all the time – just people have a “it can’t happen that way” denial reflex. What I THINK is going on, it that for an instant, the little plastic whizzie just blinked out of this reality and finally came back in.
      Consider such events a gift from the Universe – document everything – and they will often increase in frequency.

  17. Hey Mr Ure –

    How come Ure not all over Bitcoin breaking thru $10,000.00 FRN’s this past weekend?

    Did U miss the price action – or have you not considered the Wuhan Zombie Virus USE Case for Bitcoin? Wait what ?
    How about the Halving thats coming soonly? No ? what about the Golden Cross thats about to “cross” our screens soonly?

    U would think our intrepid financial news reporter would be all over this Action like Mexicans on Texas, White on Rice…

    What gives Bunky?

  18. A modest proposal…

    It would be an interesting technology exercise to compile a list of aircraft registration numbers used by upper-level Chinese political and military staff and monitor said list in the ADS-B system. If the assumption is made that at some point nCoV-2019 becomes uncontrollable, the movement of said aircraft might indicate an `end game` situation.

  19. George,

    Some woo woo for you. The universe speaks in many ways.

    For years I’ve been looking for the door in my marriage. It is more than mutual. Outwardly things are pretty normal, inside it’s hell on the kids and my liver.

    The net result is this: I earn 6 figures, have a huge house, get no sex, sleep on the couch, forced to ride a bus or bike to work when I could easily afford a beater to play around with (old truck?), can’t mention the things I like, the music I listen too, or watch the shows I want when it’s time to turn off my brain from the heavy work of bug finding.

    I’ve told you how I open my mind. Apparently it’s open all the time and things fly in. The youtube/google/fb machine only plays along with the algorithms.

    Recently I was offered a chance by FB to friend someone from HS who I have always missed dearly. We hardly knew each other as kids, but it was a crucial time and stuck with me. We’ve chatted just a small bit to say hi and catch up. But for 2 weeks now my mind has been consumed. Here’s the punch line..

    Spent a weekend in another city, in a room with a number that matches her area code, with decor that matches her current FB wallpaper eerily and very specifically. This trip was planned weeks before we connected. There are a number of other minor things normally called coincidence as well happening along the way here.

    I can’t tell if this is foreshadowing to an extreme, threads crossing, the drawing in of energies and people, or what. I’m in extreme pain for over a decade now, and something is reacting to me in real time. The universe provides plenty.

    And no, I’m not running off, but it makes going home to deal with the situation all the harder after seeing so many signs that there is another layer of everything, working deeper and in unison/closer than I ever thought.

    • Seems to me like a huge hint from U. The hardest decision anyone ever makes is to change their relatironships around. On the other hand, you do have a right to be happen and if you ain’t and she ain’t (obviously_) then change is inevitable, or the bottled up anger will lead to cancer, or worse.
      Not saying act…but “feel for clues”

        • Think of me as the Jordan Peterson that skipped rehab – I’m still incorrigible.
          When someone suggested I live in my own basement, I said piss off and took the checkbook, my car, and left. Best decision I ever made, but hardest on the kids.
          From a first responder family, though: Got to take care of ourselves so we can, in turn, take care of others.

  20. The blue magpies and green pheasants are chirping. Therefore I have consulted a 2020 Chinese Farmers Almanac. However, June 4th is listed as only auspicious for house cleaning. Nothing more!

  21. wooooooooooooow.. the euro baby awesome .. the ozzie peso awesome .. the Canadian dollar awesome.. look at em go .. USSA greenslime big big big big trouble.. the game is up for the chosen ones .. I care not for viruses or other stories .. here comes the truth. gold eh aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa.. that little scam.. crooks quick get swimsuits the tide is going out .. then a tsunami of shorts on every god damn financial thing .. minnup included.. good call on oil 2 George .. 10 bucks a barrel

  22. Has anyone read Dean Koontz’s 1981 novel “Eyes of Darkness”? Apparently a Wuhan400 virus is lethal to humans. Thank goodness it’s fiction.

  24. Had read The Lancet was stating that 83% of those exposed to this coronavirus were infected and it was now at 15% fatality rate. That might mean the next month or so is going to spawn some devastating numbers.

  25. Reminder: 2017 got exposed to the flu on a Wednesday night from a family member that hadn’t been diagnosed yet. He had coughed all over the house and onto the goodies left out for everyone for Christmas; cookies and such, which I ate! But, if I had known he was sick, I would have washed my hands continually, and not hugged him hello, and not eaten anything put out. Thursday, a.m. one drip down the throat, and a hint of a sore throat but it went away very fast. (Relative was diagnosed with Flu on Thursday.) (Note: I have had the Flu several times in my life; always was a 4 day rest, and runny nose/cough for a week after. So did not go to a minor emergency clinic and was 200 miles from my doctor’s office so treated it like I had all the other times. AND I had not been in a hospital in 50 years.) Friday at 3:00 p.m., temp went up, took a Tylenol. By Friday late evening, knew I was sick and most likely the flu. Saturday sick in bed all day taking fever reducers, drinking water, eating a little, and sleeping. Sunday, woke up with the shakes, temp over 105, took more meds, called my husband to come get me and and he did a roundtrip of 400 miles. Monday, Christmas Day, stayed in bed, don’t remember much. Tuesday, go to doctor’s office, very very sick, but the PA was more interested in my hunky husband than the sick woman. Ignored ALL information given like: high high fever, shakes, trouble breathing, low blood pressure, high heart rate (122), and how exhausted and tired I was, out of the ordinary ever. And she belittled my asking if it was possible that I had pneumonia and could I have antibiotics? “Oh, no, you have the flu and it’s a virus and antibiotics don’t work on a virus!” Yeah, I knew that. THANKFULLY, my uneducated but highly intelligent Army husband ASKED for a CHEST X-RAY, which she reluctantly gave us the form for while telling us “that it wasn’t really necessary but if it made us feel better.” Got sent home diagnosed with Type A flu. She sent us to a x-ray location that was closed the day after Christmas; so no chest x-ray because she told us 10 times that I had the flu; she NEVER said if I got worse to go to the ER, so we went home. She really made it out like we had wasted her time with a trip to see her for the FLU and the chest x-ray was a waste of time! I had a very bad night. Next morning, I tell my husband, that I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I am REALLY SICK, would he please make my x-ray appointment and take me there. He said he had to go to work, but he would come back and take me. He took me to a 11:00 a.m. appointment, I was so sick by this time, I could not undress to get my x-ray, he had to help me. I had to ask for a wheelchair to leave the place. We went home as it was his lunch time and he usually came home for lunch. Both of our cell phones rang at the same time, he was in the kitchen, I was in the bedroom. TWO people called from that doctor’s office. I had to get to the ER RIGHT AWAY; double pneumonia, not just double, but completely covered up lungs, ALL WHITE; looked like massive cancer. By the time I got to the FULL Hospital ER, I had only 5-10% chance to make it, couldn’t walk used a wheelchair, and I was breathing at 55 breaths per minute and in multiple organ failure, had SEPSIS, ARDS, and my world closed in real fast. The reason of this treatise is this: IF this Coronavirus is as bad as Friday to Wednesday was for me, and happened that fast, there is no room to play around. I had 3 types of bacterias in my bloodstream for starters, and was already hallucinating from the high fevers. 14 days in ICU; 8 days in a medically induced coma, 17 days total in hospital, 22 days running a raging fever; that’s right, my fever did not break and completely go away until I got home. Over a year to recover, and still will never be like I was as I have chronic kidney problems as well as other issues (PTSD, Trauma) and the treatment, infections blew my bladder. LUCKY to have mental faculties. Did the lack of O2, and the struggle to live hurt my body and brain; you bet. Memory issues now are noticeable. IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE DYING, YOU ARE, GET THEE TO THE ER. One final truly outliner note: Almost 2 years later, I told an old chiropractor about what happened to me and how sick I got so fast. He said, he had also caught the flu during that time, and he forced himself to walk around, sit up, and NOT LIE DOWN. He said the fact that I lay down so fast and stayed laying down so much, that my lungs filled up and it made my infections worse. NOW this is not doctor’s advice, and I don’t know if it is true or not, but he’s an incredible chiropractor about 68 years old and has a lot of experience. But, this is the thing….being that sick, laying down seemed like the only thing to do, but looking back, I had a hard time breathing laying down, but I was so sick, I stopped thinking coherently. My three sisters from across the country, and a few friends came to the ICU to help my husband and me. A prayer chain went around the world. I had quite the 8 day AWAKE coma experience while dead to the world. The prayers formed a river and helped me recover from heart failure. The doctors ran every test they could, they still could not find out exactly or understand what took me down so fast, and they considered it a miracle that I lived. Oh, P.S. May you all have someone who loves you and cares for you as my husband loves and cared for me. His question and asking for the x-ray saved my life. He brought home an invalid and he took great care of me. IF he hadn’t spoken up, my EDUCATED self, would be in the grave, and sailing around in heaven. The final point being, when the lungs are past saving, the rest of the body goes too AND just showing up at the hospital when you are that sick, doesn’t mean they can save you; plenty of people passed on life support.

  26. Hi George, I stopped reading the comments sections a few months ago because I was so tired of Marks bad case of TDS. What is the point of having a comment section when people can run amok with comments not related to either making money or what is happening in the world. Spewing hate and discontent is not pleasant. I thought you were going to monitor these? I won’t be reading comments for quite awhile again.

    • Hi, Ray, just do what I, or maybe others do, when I see Mark or Mike’s name, I just scroll on by. After a few years of reading each of their diatribes, digs, and diarrhea, it just became too monotonous and repetitious to waste any time on. I can’t appreciate them because I can’t learn anything from them. Many people have asked like you, and George replies to these 2 repeaters, but it appears as if there is some kind of dementia, learning disability, guest writers, or mental blocks because Mark and Mike don’t learn from George either. Personally, I think they have some kind of paying gig to disrupt this most incredible site and run people off. So, don’t go, just scroll on by…there are too many great comments to learn from here as well as we all have learned a LOT from YOU.

    • I agree that the forum tends to lose its objectivity at times and the trolling gets a little out of hand. However, the hate is being spewed by the Mark-bashers and kin who think there is only one correct, and narrow, view of the world, theirs. Mark is entitled to voicing his opinions which run counter to the relative few who make up the majority of commenters, and gets bashed for it mercilessly rather than being thanked for bringing light to the other side of an issue. I too wonder how politics took over and put a terrible slant on this website but I have enough common sense to simply gloss over the drivel.

      Stay the course, enjoy GU’s work for the ideas he provokes, and ignore the troll bandwagon.

      • Joe, if you search the post I made a few months ago about “coasties” you’ll note I understand “Republican” means something entirely different in the Country’s midsection than it does on either coast. That said, I don’t believe Mark collects much vitriol for “wrong thinking.” I believe he collects it because he comes off as intelligent, yet categorically refuses to abandon his anti-Trump dogma, even when sources are cited which prove him in-error, and because he will “double down” on his belief WRT anything, rather than consult an independent source or one “not in his comfort zone.”

      • “Mark is entitled to voicing his opinions which run counter to the relative few who make up the majority”

        I think you are absolutely right Joe..
        I think what’s missed is mark lives in a position in society that is different than the rest of us.. just like the social position I’m in is way different than a great deal of those commenting. I know I push my view and have a tendency to irritate others. Not by design more because I know that their view of the world is different than mine. The same sun shining down on us just seen from a different angle and different perspective. I for one appreciate Mark’s comments

    • “What is the point of having a comment section when people can run amok with comments not related to either making money or what is happening in the world.”

      Mark lives on the west coast. I live on the east coast. I suspect most of the stoning committee on this site lives somewhere in “fly over” country. I’m pretty sure we all see the world very differently based on our experiences where we live. It’s this polarization and resultant prejudice that is creating all the angst.

      Imagine a country of united states that is not united anymore. If we keep it up, it’s where we are headed — another Europe.

      • No, it’s constant dull pounding repetition….see we got it! We know their opinions, thoughts, and views, they’ve pounded us all with them, we don’t need brain washing.

    • Let the crazies rant their opinions; everyone has at least one…Apparently this week is the CA celebrity industry off-gas week. Now you know.

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