SoylentNews

It's on their border, and there is a high probability some of that Ukrainian shelling may have crossed over, all bets are off in your phony little "morality" play here. You really are quite the desktop warrior, eh?

There's this insistence on the "high probability" of a possible act that could tenuously be considered provocation for some sort of Russian military action, followed by absolutely no real world evidence of Ukrainian shelling over Russia's border (during the pre-2022 era) in the huge number of posts that followed. This was a common tactic in the thread, introduce arguments and then never mention them again - after they fall flat, though there were a few loyally carrying the Ukrainian nazi argument to ludicrous levels. The real argument was a repeated baseless accusation that I was somehow repeated mass media claims, or western propaganda and lies. And of course, the usual idiotic conceit that if they had ever presented a rational, well-informed argument, it would go unappreciated on me, the sole reader of SoylentNews.

My take is that when all the terrible reasoning and arguments are on one side, maybe it's because the side is deeply flawed in some way. I think for this war it's because the pro-Russian side can only hold its viewpoint via a complete abandonment of reason and morality.

Second, for an example of what we can learn from biased media sources, the Kherson counterattack appears to be happening - both Ukraine and Russia have claimed it is ongoing with very different spins on how well it's going down. But there's a few things I can figure out from this even in the presence of such a fog of war. First, it's a hugely telegraphed and slowly implemented attack by the Ukrainians. That's usually a very strong indicator for failure. If the Russians can't take advantage of that, then they are really terrible even by their past performance in this war. Also, the Russians must really be in a weak position, if it's even possible to get to this point where a snail-paced counterattack can go this far. They might really be terrible enough for the attack to succeed.

We're also starting to see signs of terribleness elsewhere. For example, the US is thought to be running low on supplies of ammunition that they're providing to Ukraine like the HIMARS rockets. I think this illustrates the terrible nature of US military procurement. I think other countries face similar trouble. The military industrial complex is great for sponging up public funds, but not so great for supplying a significant war. Maybe this war will clean out some of the glaring weaknesses in various western militaries, including Russia's, but I'm not hopeful.

Added: Ukraine is tight-lipped now (September 2). My bet is that if they were rolling up Russian lines easily, they'd be non-stop talking about it. So this is an indicator that things probably aren't going well. Absence of propaganda is another way one can use a propaganda source to glean genuine information.

Finally, there's the lunacy of Russia's actions have disrupted the world and status quo in ways that harm billions of innocent people: threatening the food supply and bringing humanity to the brink of nuclear war. My premise is as follows:

• There were peaceful, beneficial ways for Russia to pursue its interests. But that would run into the inherent contradictions of the Putin regime, such as trying to build a powerful Russia while simultaneously robbing it blind.
• Just because someone has an existential concern, doesn't make it a serious one. It should pass a rational person test - would a rational person believe the same in the circumstances. For example, it has been claimed that Russia needed to invade Ukraine before it was invaded by NATO - to avoid the "Stalin mistake" of not invading Nazi Germany before Nazi Germany invaded them. Well, that fails the rational person test. Even now, with Ukraine fighting with NATO weapons, there's no move to invade Russia.
• Threatening with nuclear weapons over penny ante shit. Sure, if Russia had a reasonable existential concern, then they could at least have a reasonable pretext for such a threat. But just mooching some Ukrainian land? That's garbage.
  
  On that last bit, do we really want to live in a world where nuclear threats are an automatic i-win button for stealing shit? There should be consequences else we're just paying the Dane (no offense to modern Denmark, but some of your ancestors were a bit scruffy).
• Is it too many to expect that rivals play smart and employ peaceful means to overturn the status quo/unipolar/hegemony rather than kill large numbers of people in venal and often counterproductive conflict?

You can whine about how unfair the mass media, western propaganda lies are, but well, there's this serious problem that we need to do something about before it tears apart our world. My take is that with a focused effort on development, most which doesn't even need to involve government action at all, we can make everyone in the world vastly better off. But the Russian invasion and its tremendous fallout helps hold that back. It makes the world a more terrible place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgm14D1jHUw

Rest in pizza.

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/european-forum-alpbach-keynote-speech-high-representativevice-president-josep-borrell-panel_en

But the big crisis is the triple crisis of financial crisis, energy crisis and food crisis. These three elements together will affect millions of people. The World Food Programme says that the index of food is at the highest price - 40% more expensive than two years ago. And for us, that we spend 15% of our budget for food, it is important. But if in your budget food represented 50%, then this 40% increase would be much more difficult. There are tens of millions of people, mainly in Africa, in a very dire situation because they cannot pay the higher prices for electricity – well electricity, some of them, they have never seen a lightbulb – energy, food and the financial crisis, which is blooming.

And there is a competition in the energy market. We, Europeans, can pay higher prices for gas because we can afford it. They cannot afford it and they blame us for taking the gas that otherwise would be used for them. And we take this gas because there is no Russian gas. Everything is connected around the world. But yes, this tsunami of this triple crisis in the next month, you will see, we will have to be very - not just worried - but taking care of what we can do, and we can do a lot of things.

Then, there is China emerging. China is unavoidably the next big power. What China has done in the last 40-50 years, it has never happened before in the history of mankind. It is an extraordinary success from the point of view of getting people out of poverty and developing a country which is now at the forefront of technology, economic growth, and is selling its political model. So, there is a battle of narrative on which model works best in order to satisfy the needs of the people - not only the political needs, not only to be able to choose your government which is quite important, but also from the point of view of economic well-being.

...

Third, what is our response to this troubled world? With China emerging, with a lot of crises everywhere, with this triple crisis looming. I think that Europeans, we should be less naïve to have a better understanding of the world that way it is. Because we believed that trading, creating economic interdependencies, and preaching the rule of law and human rights would be enough. And it has been a lot, but certainly not enough. We live in a world of power politics, we live in a world of the former empires. People who were an empire, centuries ago, want to become an empire again. This is the case of Russia, this is the case of China. We can say something about Turkey also, an old empire who comes and says, “I am a power. I want to play a regional, political important role”. And dependencies have become dangerous. Too much dependency becomes dangerous because you are weak, and because the other can abuse you.

...

Dependency is a weapon. Everything becomes a weapon. The weapons are not just tanks and cannons. The weapons are everything in which you can be affected by a power decision by someone else. So, we have to be more united. Tell, please, to Europeans, young and old: we are too small, we are only 5% of the world population. After the Second World War, we were 20% of the world population. It has been shrinking to 5% of the world population...

...

Take your responsibility, push for governments who want to build a united Europe because if we do not unite, we will not survive - as easy as this. 5% of the world population divided in 27 pieces with 27 armies is not fit for the 21st century. You know that altogether we have a double number of soldiers than the US and more than China, but are we considered a military power? We know that all together, we spend in arms four times what Russia spends. I would not say that the 27 European armies all together have the same fire capacity than the Russian army...

Let's do something outrageous, in flyover country. Let's have a drag queen luncheon at a bar - WITH KIDS. We'll get all those drag queens, with all those kids, at the luncheon, then we'll surround the place with a bunch of armed "guards". We'll publicize this outrageous event, and see if we can goad someone into counter protesting. Just think of the body count! Just think of the headlines if we manage to kill a bunch of children at a gay event!

Well, that's exactly what gay pride and Antifa thought was a great idea. It is unclear how many children attended the event, but at least one woman is on video, proudly showing off her kid. It is also unclear whether alcohol was served at the event. Texas has liberal laws regarding minors and alcohol - but one doesn't generally invite children to a bar anywhere in this country.

https://www.usasupreme.com/videos-show-that-antifa-radicals-armed-with-ar-15-guard-a-kid-friendly-drag-show-which-featured-nudity-texans-decided-to-do-something-about-it/

Videos Show That Antifa Radicals Armed With Ar-15 Guard A ‘Kid Friendly’ Drag Show Which Featured Nudity – Texans Decided To Do Something About It
  August 29, 2022 Natalie Washington 6 Comments
The streets outside a bar in a small town in Texas became the scene of a heated confrontation between people protesting a ‘family-friendly’ drag show hosted by the establishment and defenders of the event, some of whom were armed.

The protesters accused the bar of “grooming children” by exposing them to sexual content, as they gathered to protest the show last Sunday. But according to reports from the scene on social media, they were outnumbered by activists from the opposite camp, who dismissed the demonstrators as ‘bigots’ and ‘transphobes’.

A “kid-friendly” drag brunch for all ages was guarded against protests by armed Antifa militants carrying AR-15s. The drag event was held at the Anderson Distillery and Grill in Roanoke, Texas.

The event called the Barrel Babes Drag Brunch was advertised as “Dancing Music and Laughs.” Journalist Taylor Hansen said that the “kid-friendly” event featured “Vulgarity, Sexualization of Minors, and Partial Nudity.”

At least some of the defenders of the show were armed, and were reportedly members of Antifa. They were presumably there to offer security for the patrons, performers, and the business.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/30/texas-drag-brunch-armed-protesters-roanoke

Oh yeah. As an aside, those leftist/progressive/Democrat types who are still pushing for gun control are being left behind. Here you see Antifa armed for bear (note that I don't use the idiot term "heavily armed"). This is going to become the norm, with all the millions who have been, and still are, buying guns for the first time.

https://www.lmtonline.com/news/local/article/texas-drag-brunch-armed-protesters-17407123.php

Lots of other sources for the same story - some pro, some con, some in the middle.

EDIT: https://twitter.com/TaylerUSA/status/1564073099015897089

Video from inside the event. Over 20 children were in attendance.

Just ponied up for a new desktop, DIY.
Gonna see if my son wants to watch and help build it (gotta watch that static, though). Last time i switched parts into a new case, he watched me for a straight hour (he was very small at that time).
Wasn't exactly what i was wanting, but there was a sudden $60-70 drop in price (through pcpartpicker.com) and i pounced.
It's been a LONG time since i bought brand new and DIY and my knowledge of hardware has diminished, so i purchased what i THOUGHT was a good buy for the money i had, but who knows...
Here's what i bought, with my mind going towards increasing the memory this Christmas, possibly.

***Edited to add prices, all in CAD***

AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor $209.99 CAD
Asus TUF GAMING B450M-PLUS II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard $139.19
2 x G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 CL15 Memory $31.99 each stick
Seagate ST500LM021 500 GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $30.99
ADATA SU635 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $42.99
Deepcool MATREXX 55 MESH ATX Mid Tower Case $69.98
Thermaltake Smart 600 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply $54.99

Going to probably put Manjaro on it as the main OS, and then distro-hop like a fiend, looking at all teh non-systemd's and i hope to (again) explore LFS for the rush.
Might even try Slackware again!

******************************************************************************************
Benchmarked on Garuda linux Cinnamon

******Using sysbench*****

--CPU TEST

Running the test with following options:
Number of threads: 1
Initializing random number generator from current time

Prime numbers limit: 10000

Initializing worker threads...

Threads started!

CPU speed:
        events per second: 1922.81

General statistics:
        total time: 10.0004s
        total number of events: 19233

Latency (ms):
                  min: 0.50
                  avg: 0.52
                  max: 0.72
                  95th percentile: 0.53
                  sum: 9946.56

Threads fairness:
        events (avg/stddev): 19233.0000/0.00
        execution time (avg/stddev): 9.9466/0.00

****************************************************************************
--MEMORY TEST

Running the test with following options:
Number of threads: 1
Initializing random number generator from current time

Running memory speed test with the following options:
    block size: 1KiB
    total size: 102400MiB
    operation: write
    scope: global

Initializing worker threads...

Threads started!

Total operations: 2414611 (241408.75 per second)

2358.02 MiB transferred (235.75 MiB/sec)

General statistics:
        total time: 10.0001s
        total number of events: 2414611

Latency (ms):
                  min: 0.00
                  avg: 0.00
                  max: 0.27
                  95th percentile: 0.00
                  sum: 3398.81

Threads fairness:
        events (avg/stddev): 2414611.0000/0.00
        execution time (avg/stddev): 3.3988/0.00

********************************************************************************
--FILE I/O

Running the test with following options:
Number of threads: 1
Initializing random number generator from current time

Extra file open flags: (none)
128 files, 16MiB each
2GiB total file size
Block size 16KiB
Periodic FSYNC enabled, calling fsync() each 100 requests.
Calling fsync() at the end of test, Enabled.
Using synchronous I/O mode
Doing sequential write (creation) test
Initializing worker threads...

Threads started!

File operations:
        reads/s: 0.00
        writes/s: 13746.41
        fsyncs/s: 17596.10

Throughput:
        read, MiB/s: 0.00
        written, MiB/s: 214.79

General statistics:
        total time: 10.0009s
        total number of events: 313379

Latency (ms):
                  min: 0.00
                  avg: 0.03
                  max: 23.63
                  95th percentile: 0.01
                  sum: 8894.69

Threads fairness:
        events (avg/stddev): 313379.0000/0.00
        execution time (avg/stddev): 8.8947/0.00

************************************************************************************
Results of Passmark benchmark: looks bad (not many stars..)? And there's something about a graph, but none are there. I guess the stars are how i compare to other tests?
https://www.passmark.com/baselines/V10/display.php?id=502239247835

**********************************************************************************************

I've gone, so far, with Garuda linux because it has some 'neat-o' things going on which I'm trying:

---zram swap in memory for fast swap

---btrfs file system with snapper taking snapshots: do something wrong, use install disk to just revert system to older snapshot (which excites me the most, cos i always screw something up with all the 'goofing with the system' i do, lol)

--linux-zen kernel

-----https://garudalinux.org/

I have three days to learn enough about the Rust programming language to head off the C++ guys at the pass. There's a meeting coming up.

Note that we don't have enough people who know C++ either, other than "everyone else uses it for everything so we should too." That's about the limit of their knowledge. This is PHB-level stuff.

I'm not planning on living out the rest of my career writing and debugging and maintaining C++. No way. Where do I start? I have already said, "I offers memory safety and it's good enough that Linus is letting it in the kernel now."

Help!

https://www.cnsnews.com/article/national/micky-wootten/texas-man-gets-five-years-prison-third-human-smuggling-conviction

Texas Man Gets Five Years in Prison for Third Human Smuggling Conviction

(CNSNews) – Texas resident Eric Mendiola was sentenced this month by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to five years in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after he pleaded guilty to human smuggling for the third time.

An affidavit attached to the criminal complaint that was filed with the court by a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) explained the situation leading to Mendiola’s arrest.

On March 20, 2022 at around 11:15 p.m., a “blue tractor hauling a white trailer” arrived at a Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 77 near the town of Sarita, Texas. When a Border Patrol agent asked Mendiola what was in the trailer, Mendiola informed the agent that he was “hauling broccoli.”

After a service canine named “Tommy” alerted the Border Patrol agents to the trailer, Mendiola and the two passengers with him (who he said were his “wife and daughter”) were instructed to step outside of the vehicle while the agents inspected his trailer.

In the trailer, according to the affidavit, a “total of 31 subjects were found on top and between pallets of broccoli.”

“The temperature inside the trailer was recorded at 41 degrees according to the thermometer on the reefer,” the affidavit said. “All the subjects appeared noticeably cold and were shivering due to being inside the refrigerated trailer.”

After each of the 31 subjects was “questioned and determined to be illegally present in the United States,” the border patrol agents arrested Mendiola as well as the aliens he had been smuggling.

The affidavit filed on March 22 also includes a brief description of each of Mendiola’s two prior arrests:

“On 8/23/2016, MENDIOLA was arrested at the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint for attempting to smuggle undocumented aliens. MENDIOLA was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 12 months and 1 day BOP.

“On 03/10/2019, MENDIOLA was arrested at the Javier Vega Jr. Border Patrol Checkpoint for attempting to smuggle undocumented aliens. MENDIOLA was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 12 months BOP.”

Mendiola "pleaded guilty to illegally transporting undocumented aliens within the United States" on May 23, 2022, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

On August 17, 2022, Mendiola was given the maximum sentence of 60 months followed by two years of probation for human smuggling, according to a press release published that day by the U.S. attorney.

“At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence that this is Mendiola’s third conviction for smuggling humans,” said the U.S. attorney’s release.

“In handing down the sentence,” said the release, “the court noted the manner in which Mendiola transported individuals.”

“At the time of his plea, Mendiola admitted that on March 20, Mendiola drove a tractor trailer into the Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita,” it said. “At inspection, A K-9 soon alerted authorities to the presence of concealed humans. Law enforcement opened the doors of the trailer and discovered individuals hiding behind a load of produce.

“In the trailer were 31 undocumented aliens--19 from Mexico; five, four and two from Columbia, Guatemala and El Salvador, respectively; as well as one Honduran national. All were determined to be in the United States illegally. In addition, the temperature inside the refrigerated trailer was 41 degrees Fahrenheit.”

“Mendiola will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future,” it said.

Third conviction is good for five years? That's preposterous. He has been caught three times, presumably got away with it other times. The first time was only a one year sentence, the second was only 1 year, and there is no indication that he actually served a full year in prison for either conviction.

IMO, the first conviction should have been good for 5 years, the second 10 years, and this, the third, should be no less than 20 years in prison. Forget about "good time", serve the entire sentence, day-for-day.

No matter your thoughts and opinions on immigration, you've surely read of trailers loaded with people who were left to die under the Texas sun. But, lawmakers are willing to tolerate the ongoing carnage at the border.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/27/bodies-18-wheeler-san-antonio-lackland/

When you plant seeds, sometimes one or two don't grow. Another few may sprout but be deformed in some way such that they don't survive. Random mutations and random environmental factors will do that sort of thing.

We humans are products of the natural world. We are surrounded by life competing to survive. Fortunately we have evolved big brains and the intelligence to be able to plan ahead and work together. We can support each other and work to ensure that we are all provided for and to at least attempt to relieve suffering.

A large proportion of us go in to caring professions and study medicine. In the last 150 years or so we've learned about germs, discovered antibiotics and anaesthetics. We don't have to endure operations conscious and aware of pain any more, in general.

Philosophical advances have also been made. I don't claim to be a philosopher and have not read much philosophy, but the simplistic archaic religious beliefs of millennia past have gradually given way to more enlightened thought.

Then Trumpism/the Alt Wrong took hold and Roe vs. Wade was overturned in the USA. There have been a number of journal entries on this site regarding this attack on women's bodily autonomy and the resulting suffering. I saw another story this evening that I though I should share.

The Guardian has a story entitled "Louisiana woman faces 'horrifically cruel' abortion choices over fetus missing skull".

Nature has randomly produced for this woman a foetus without a skull and it will not survive more than a few hours, should it be born. However, the state does not include this condition (acrania) on its list of conditions justifying exceptions from its abortion ban.

Nancy Davis has retained lawyer Ben Crump as she becomes the latest to embody the gut-wrenching decisions some women are being forced to make after the US supreme court’s decision in June to strip away nationwide abortion rights, according to a statement from the attorney’s office.

There are some other horror stories in that article too, like the 16-year-old girl prevented from having an abortion by the state of Florida for being too young to make the decision, but being forced to carry the baby to term. Go figure.

I think the thing that takes the biscuit is the report about the 10-year-old Ohio girl who got pregnant as the result of being raped and had to travel to Indiana for the abortion. From the article

Though some media outlets and rightwing politicians baselessly questioned whether the girl existed or was instead a liberal hoax to stoke support for abortion rights, authorities have since charged a man in connection with the girl’s rape, a crime to which he has purportedly confessed.

Rightwing? Wrongwing, surely?

"Consuming foods with ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming foods modified by conventional plant improvement techniques."

The primary conclusion is that for a number of claims that are generally held to be true by consensus, opposition to those results show interesting correlations: opposition correlates negatively with objective knowledge (what the final test indicated that the subject knew about the field), and positively with subjective knowledge (what the subject thought they knew about the field). Those who were most opposed tended to exhibit a large gap between what they knew and what they thought they knew.

Here's the list of subjects and then I'll get to the punch line:

• GM foods
• Vaccination
• Homeopathic medicine
• Nuclear power
• Climate change
• Big bang
• Evolution

Which one wasn't like the others?

test - how well does 'only logged-in users' work here?