[Science Mag.org] The American Association for the Advancement of Science has released two parts of a draft plan that directs the organization to strengthen its advocacy on behalf of diversity, equity, and inclusion—while taking a hard look at its own demographics and related policies.
AAAS's "Addressing Systemic Racism in the Sciences" plans were developed by AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh and AAAS leadership, after discussions inside and outside the association prompted by a year that Parikh calls "an opportunity born of tragedy."
Protests over police brutality against Black people in the United States and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and brown communities are sharp reminders that no part of society is immune from discrimination, Parikh said. "We haven't yet held a mirror to the scientific enterprise, and we may not like everything we see."
AAAS is holding up that mirror with a report that will be published in late October, compiling demographic data on the association's Fellows, Science & Technology Policy Fellows, award recipients, Science authors, and AAAS governing bodies. These groups are critical to supporting diversity, Parikh said, because they represent the ways in which "AAAS functions as a career advancement enabler in science and engineering."
#2
Here's my study: Math is hard. People who won't do the work won't succeed in the sciences. Asians will do the work and are racially over-represented. Same for the Jews, who are generally Caucasian and boost those numbers. Otherwise, if you want your racial representation to go up stop beating up your math teachers.
#6
Like giving tenure-track preferences to straight A students - most of whom turn out (after getting tenure) to totally unable to do original research - wasn't bad enough.
#13
I see it. So far the ritual self-flagellation is voluntary, and there's more talk than policy.
If they're wise enough to focus on outreach, all should still be well.
You need some serious skills to compete in physics. Unless you're in love with the field, you aren't likely to use those skills here. You'll make a _lot_ more money elsewhere.
We lost a good researcher a few years ago when his family pointed out that time for fun was done and he needed to work in the family business, and he left us to get an MBA. (He's from Nigeria.)
Posted by: James ||
10/31/2020 16:39 Comments ||
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[G&G] The 2020 edition of our Good Dog Photo Contest proved once again that Garden & Gun readers have a nose for good dogs and great photos. We received nearly 12,000 submissions and one million votes, and it’s a treat for us to shine a spotlight on the many, many loyal, gorgeous, and just plain hilarious canines around the South and beyond. As always, picking a winner was no easy task, but we just couldn’t take our eyes off Dylian, a water-loving Chesapeake Bay retriever from El Paso, Texas, with a 1,000-watt smile. A special shout out as well to the readers’ choice winner, Oscar, a bluetick coonhound from Mobile, Alabama, who lets nothing stand in his way.
Meet Dylian and Oscar as well as several more of our favorites and the other top readers’ choice vote getters below. Because we had so many great entries, we’ve also put together collections of dogs being buddies, funny dogs, dogs in the field, and a slew of adorable puppies.
Our sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to submit photos and vote. It certainly lifted our spirits during this trying year, and we hope these photos help bring you some doggie joy. And Dylian, keep an eye on the mailbox for a G&G gift pack headed your way.
#4
Confucius say, "BOO!" and "Li Bai
Inquire of the moon, 'Are you high?'
Silhouette of a witch
(as he trip into ditch):
'HAPPY HALLOWEEN!' Moon sigh. 'No, why?'"
#5
Confucius say, "Boo!" And "Li Bo
Condescend to blue moon: 'Why so low?'
Mute reflection in ditch.
'You po' SOB...
TRICK OR TREAT! Make mine wine!' Moon be, 'No.'"
DAVIE, Fla. — A man who paid $150 for a "full-contact experience" with a black leopard says he had to undergo multiple surgeries after he was mauled by the fully-grown animal in an enclosure behind a Davie home.
A picture obtained by Local 10 News shows Dwight Turner’s heavily bandaged head and ear after the savage attack, which detectives from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission say happened behind a home on Earnest Boulevard on Aug. 31.
The man who lives there, identified as Michael Poggi, has a Facebook page saying he runs an animal sanctuary for rare and endangered animals.
Authorities say Poggi was charged with allowing full contact with an extremely dangerous animal and was cited for maintaining captive wildlife in an unsafe condition.
Investigators say Poggi charged the 50-year-old Turner $150 for a "full-contact experience" with his black leopard — to "play with it, rub its belly and take pictures."
FWC’s report says that once Turner walked inside the enclosure, the leopard attacked.The injuries were so severe, the report says the victim’s scalp was "hanging from his head and his right ear was torn in half."
Attempts to speak to Poggi at his home have been unsuccessful.
Authorities say he is licensed to have the leopard. They say Poggi admitted to them, though, that what he did was illegal.
Turner’s attorney says that the entire experience was illegal, so any waiver his client may have signed before the experience would be void.
The attorney says Turner spent a week in the emergency room from his injuries.
#1
I had a ‘no charge’ exposure to a leopard cub. She was beautiful, playful, and it was like fur-covered steel. She slammed me to the floor, grabbed me by the back of my neck, and proceded to lick and purr me to death. She was happy to play, but was a bit rough. Amazing.
#5
ALso... any idiot that has the smaller version knows that most kitties don't like having their bellies rubbed. When they roll over on their backs it's as a gesture of submission and/or to rub their backs. It's not a request to rub their sensitive bits (paws and bellies in particular).
#3
The picture of the lithium mine is not a lithium mine. They are very small and most are over brine areas rich in lithium. the brine is pumped out and the lithium is extracted.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/31/2020 18:57 Comments ||
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#4
Not to argue, Mr. Blues, but see https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=lithium+mine&atb=v174-1&iax=images&ia=images for lots of lithium mine photos,
Really big holes in the ground.
And I agree, the Green New Deal folks are grossly under-representing the environmental costs of their "deal".
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/31/2020 23:25 Comments ||
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[ZH] Last night, after a 16-day blackout, Twitter finally relented and released the NY Post's account from 'Twitter jail', punishment for the paper's work publishing stories about Hunter Biden's financial dealings in Ukraine and China. Some of the emails clearly contradicted Hunter Biden father's claims that he had never discussed business with his son.
On the contrary, it was later revealed, Joe Biden was "the big man", a "Godfather"-like figure overseeing the business dealings of his son, and his brother, Jim Biden, from a relatively safe distance. As former Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski affirmed, the Bidens saw Hunter's dealings abroad as part and parcel of the family business. "They were putting the Biden name on the line," Bobulinski said.
For the last two weeks, big tech and their allies in the mainstream media have been dreaming up every excuse imaginable to continue censoring the Hunter Biden stories. Meanwhile, a network of conservative blogs led by a new Chinese news site called G-News have released an unceasing stream of pornographic images purporting to show Hunter Biden using drugs and engaging in sexual acts.
But after Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai were dragged in front of a Senate Committee this week and mercilessly pounded by Ted Cruz, followed by a historic selloff in Twitter shares on Friday, it seems the entire mainstream media ecosystem has finally run out of excuses, and just like that, Hunter Biden and the issue of foreign corruption exposing the former VP to international blackmail is back on the table.
In a video report, ABC New' Tom Llamas confronts Biden in person and lobs several hardball questions about the Hunter Biden scandal. Did Joe Biden allow his son to earn millions in shady deals in foreign countries.
"It's a question we tried to ask repeatedly...but kept getting blocked."
The questions were about deals involving Hunter Biden in countries where his father was "working as America's top diplomat".
Delving deeper into the backstory than any mainstream media report we've seen, ABC explains how Joe Biden was dispatched to Kiev to fight the "cancer of corruption" as civil war broke out.
But then something strange happened: "just three weeks later, a Ukrainian national gas company, Burisma, which had been accused of corruption, promotes Hunter Biden to its board, and paid his firm millions of dollars a year."
Llamas pointed out that the younger Biden had just been discharged from the Navy reserves for testing positive for cocaine, and that although he had sat on corporate boards before, he had no experience in the natural gas business.
What's worse, the stab in the back from ABC News comes as the Biden Campaign is sounding a "red alert" over the Black and Latino vote.
It's difficult to understate what ABC News has done here: With one five-minute segment, they have broken the mainstream media blackout on the Hunter Biden story, with just days to go before the election.
Will ABC News be the James Comey of 2020? We'll have to wait and see.
#1
Kudos to Ted Cruz for taking Dorsey to the woodshed, but it was the market that broke the logjam, because even communists have a portfolio to protect. Once the twittersphere began to vibrate, ABC saw the phonybaloney job protection strategy needed to be in play.
[WJZ] The aerial surveillance planes that have been flying over the skies of Baltimore will stop operating after Saturday, according to city police officials.
The Baltimore Police Department confirmed Friday "all flight operations for the pilot program will end on October 31, 2020. too successful?
In an email to WJZ, a department spokesperson said: "we will continue to work with our vendor, independent evaluators and stakeholders to provide additional analysis, briefings and related activities."
In April, the city council approved a privately-funded six-month aerial surveillance pilot program proponents argued would help solve crimes. Opponents, including the ACLU of Maryland, which sued over the program, argued it was a violation of residents’ First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights. [But taking personal info at Michigan restaurants on order of the state is a-o.k.]
Last month, the police department released a preliminary report on the program’s effectiveness. The report found just 17 of the 121 homicides that happened in the city between May 1 and August 20 happened during flight hours and within coverage range.
Evidence from the planes was used in 107 cases out of a total of 874. The report concluded the program helped close a number of homicide cases and more arrests were made in cases with air evidence than without.
#2
Gee, guess they've got crime totally under control in Bal'mer, so much so that now maybe they can focus on the crimes committed at Baltimore City Hall.
Various reports of damage to property, with Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu saying six buildings had collapsed in two districts of the coastal city of #izmir.#earthquake#Turkey earthquake pic.twitter.com/ci5ie9fxUs
Four people were killed and several injured after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Greece on Friday off the former’s Aegean coast, north of the Greek island of Samos. pic.twitter.com/13MwiatEXl
NY Post has more:
Over a dozen dead after massive earthquake hits Greece, Turkey
At least 14 people have been killed and hundreds injured as a powerful earthquake and mini-tsunami hit Turkey and Greece.
Horrifying pictures show the mass devastation as rescuers desperately search the rubble for survivors after the magnitude-7.0 tremor rocked the coasts and islands around the Aegean Sea.
The quake’s epicenter was 11 miles north of the Greek island Samos off the coast of Turkey, a region popular with British tourists.
Izmir, a Turkish city with a population of 4.4 million, bore the brunt of the destruction.
At least 20 buildings collapsed and a mini-tsunami swept through coastal areas which swept a flood of debris – including cars – inland and left fish stranded as it receded.
People were left running for their lives as the massive surge burst through sea defenses and turned the streets into raging torrents of salt water.
Rescuers are now facing a race against time to pull anymore survivors buried beneath the rubble of collapsed structures.
At least 70 people have been rescued from under the rubble.
The quake was also felt across the eastern Greek islands, such as Mykonos and Kos, and tsunami warnings were issued to many beachgoers.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said 12 people died, one due to drowning, while 419 people were injured.
Meanwhile, two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, were killed when a wall collapsed on the island of Samos.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
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[Zero Hedge] - Sir Sean Connery, the celebrated Scottish actor who will forever be associated with James Bond, the MI6 agent also known as "007" whom he portrayed in 7 films, has died. He was 90
With roguish charm and sophistication, Connery inaugurated the long-running James Bond franchise with 1962’s Dr. No and remained the prototypical "Bond" for decades, even - for many - until this very day.
Thomas Sean Connery was born in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh on Aug. 25 1930, the son of a Catholic factory worker and a Protestant housekeeper.
As the BBC reports in a lengthy biography published minutes after news of Connery's death broke, Connery "began life in an Edinburgh tenement and ended it with a villa in Greece, sharing a helicopter pad with the King of the Netherlands."
"Always hating the Hollywood lifestyle, he preferred to play golf at his homes in Spain, Portugal and the Caribbean, with his second wife, Micheline Roqubrune, an artist he had met in Morocco," the BBC said.
"He attributed his short fuse and his 'moodiness' to his Celtic genes. "My view is that to get anywhere in life you have to be anti-social,'' he once said. "Otherwise you'll end up being devoured."
But despite these quirks, Connery remains an icon of Scottish culture, and the definitive "Bond", even as Daniel Craig returns for another film, "No Time To Die", set to be released next year.
Fun fact: Bond author Ian Fleming initially hated Connery, reviling him as an unrefined and overgrown stuntman, but he he changed his mind after seeing Dr. No and even inserted Scottish heritage into Bond’s background in subsequent novels.
The state trooper who struck up a relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daughter — much to her father’s dismay — is a former tennis pro with washboard abs.
Dane Pfeiffer, 35, played the sport while a student at Skidmore College and later competed in two overseas tournaments, according to online records.
A photo posted online by his older sister in 2008 shows Pfeiffer’s glistening, chiseled physique as he walked, shirtless, off a court with a racquet in his hand.
Other photos, also posted in 2008, show him in selfies snapped during what appears to have been a mountain hiking trip in the western United States.
In several, he made goofy faces while posing amid the scenery and some also feature a pal mugging for the camera who’s tagged as Dan Coffee.
Coffee appears to be a 38-year-old resident of Old Lyme, Connecticut, where Pfeiffer grew up. He didn’t return a message seeking comment.
A 2012 photo also shows Pfeiffer wearing a yellow sports jacket at an event with his parents, John and Marga Pfeiffer, and his sister, Aubris Pfeiffer.
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] A 13-year-old Christian girl was kidnapped in Pakistain and forced to marry a 44-year-old man who made her convert to Islam, campaigners say.
Arzoo Raja was kidnapped from her home in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... on October 13, and two days later her 'husband' produced a marriage certificate saying she was 18 and had converted to Islam.
The case has led to protests in Karachi and Lahore but a Pak court has upheld the marriage after her husband claimed she had converted of her own free will.
Arzoo tried to run to her mother during the court hearing but her husband held her in a tight grip to stop her from leaving, it is alleged.
Arzoo's father Raja said that his daughter had been kidnapped from the family home in Karachi's Railway Colony after her parents went to work.
When police contacted the family two days later they said that the 'husband' had already obtained a marriage certificate, according to a Christian group called the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).
'Very often maiden of tender yearss are threatened into giving statements to the court saying they have married and converted to Islam of their own free will,' said CLAAS UK director Nasir Saeed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[IsraelTimes] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces that "effective immediately," American citizens born in Jerusalem will now be able to list Israel as the country of birth on their passports.
In a statement, Pompeo says the policy change is "consistent" with US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...... ’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital and decision to move the American embassy there, but stresses the administration is not taking a position on Jerusalem’s boundaries.
Launch hazard notices have given a clue for the upcoming Atlas V launch carrying NROL-101. Looks like a high inclination orbit, quite possibly a Molniya orbit!https://t.co/AlXsafO0OIpic.twitter.com/fpYvynJ1nR
#1
Looks like it. Then again, all I know about POrbital Mechanics I learned from Kerbal Space Program.
Including how to launch a payload from middle latitude launch site to a Molniya orbit with specific inclination, Argument of Periapsis and Longitude of Ascending Node, and semi-major axis and eccentricity to achieve my desire periapsis and apoapsis (preigee and apogee if you are talking about earth) and that it would pass over specific points on the ground at specified altitudes in a given interval.
Get woke, go broke, to borrow a phrase...
[NY Post, via Insty] - The Drudge Report posted a 45 percent decline in web traffic in September as the site alienated its core readers by turning against President Trump ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The data — derived from comScore, which tracks the industry — were released in a report by TheRighting, a website that analyzes traffic to right-leaning websites. TheRighting told The Post that the Drudge Report had 1,291,000 unique visitors in September, according to data supplied by comScore, down from 2,340,000 in the same month a year ago.
September’s eye-popping decline marks the ninth month in a row that the political news aggregation website run by reclusive founder Matt Drudge has seen traffic fall, TheRighting said.
The plunge comes at a time when demand for political news has been soaring on both sides of the aisle leading up to a highly charged presidential election. And experts say it’s directly tied to the Drudge Report’s sudden and unexpected switch earlier this year from a conservative-leaning news outlet to one that’s decidedly anti-Trump.
"It’s catastrophic what has happened to his web traffic," said Matt Lysiak, author of "The Drudge Revolution." "He’s on a fast track to irrelevance." Maybe he's already there - I stopped reading Drudge about six months ago and I know I'm one of the last Rantburgers to do so.
[Just The News] The family of the Delaware shop owner who says he came into possession of a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden first tried to turn over the computer to the FBI in summer 2019 but was rebuffed, only to have agents return months later during President Trump's impeachment proceedings, his lawyer said Thursday night.
In a lengthy statement to Just the News, attorney Brian Della Rocca provided a detailed timeline of the actions his client, John Paul Mac Isaac, says he took in trying to get authorities to investigate the laptop.
The lawyer also decried public figures on both sides of the aisle for politicizing the episode and for attacking the Delaware computer repairman without having the facts.
Mac Isaac "unwittingly became the target of a smear campaign by doing what he thought was right," Della Rocca said. "John Paul is not a right-wing fanatic, nor is he a Russian hacker."
In the statement that was originally drafted to be an op-ed, Della Rocca made several new revelations about the laptop that has stirred worldwide political intrigue on the eve of the American presidential election, an FBI investigation, and a news media and social media censorship campaign. Among the revelations:
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Science Mag.org] The American Association for the Advancement of Science has released two parts of a draft plan that directs the organization to strengthen its advocacy on behalf of diversity, equity, and inclusion—while taking a hard look at its own demographics and related policies.
[G&G] The 2020 edition of our Good Dog Photo Contest proved once again that Garden & Gun readers have a nose for good dogs and great photos. We received nearly 12,000 submissions and one million votes, and it’s a treat for us to shine a spotlight on the many, many loyal, gorgeous, and just plain hilarious canines around the South and beyond. As always, picking a winner was no easy task, but we just couldn’t take our eyes off Dylian, a water-loving Chesapeake Bay retriever from El Paso, Texas, with a 1,000-watt smile. A special shout out as well to the readers’ choice winner, Oscar, a bluetick coonhound from Mobile, Alabama, who lets nothing stand in his way.
DAVIE, Fla. — A man who paid $150 for a "full-contact experience" with a black leopard says he had to undergo multiple surgeries after he was mauled by the fully-grown animal in an enclosure behind a Davie home.
[WJZ] The aerial surveillance planes that have been flying over the skies of Baltimore will stop operating after Saturday, according to city police officials.
[NYP] Game. Set. Perfect match!
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] A 13-year-old Christian girl was kidnapped in Pakistain and forced to marry a 44-year-old man who made her convert to Islam, campaigners say. 
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons......
[Just The News] The family of the Delaware shop owner who says he came into possession of a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden first tried to turn over the computer to the FBI in summer 2019 but was rebuffed, only to have agents return months later during President Trump's impeachment proceedings, his lawyer said Thursday night.
