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  • CalvinAndHoboCalvinAndHobo Posts: 3,200 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Amos_Umwhat said:
    Is it just me, or are some of you picturing @CalvinAndHobo with a fedora, pin-striped suit with a carnation on the lapel, pointy toed shoes and a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist?

    Don't forget the cigar.

  • silvermousesilvermouse Posts: 22,272 ✭✭✭✭✭

    and the gat.

  • peter4jcpeter4jc Posts: 17,475 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This is incredible; A promising genetic treatment tailor-made for a baby born with a rare disorder.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/15/nx-s1-5389620/gene-editing-treatment-crispr-inherited

    "I could've had a Mi Querida!"   Nick Bardis
  • OlekingcoleOlekingcole Posts: 901 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 17

    I tried to post the link but it doesn't allow me to post 😕

    I don't have problems, just more work to do.

  • ShawnOLShawnOL Posts: 11,048 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nothing new. The Chinese have been positioning themselves so they can defeat the united states for decades. We've just allowed it by buying electronics from them.

    Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.

  • OlekingcoleOlekingcole Posts: 901 ✭✭✭✭✭

    They're pretending like they just learned this

    I don't have problems, just more work to do.

  • OlekingcoleOlekingcole Posts: 901 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sounds like Hog-wash

    I don't have problems, just more work to do.

  • OlekingcoleOlekingcole Posts: 901 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A Mexican navy sailing ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday during a promotional tour in New York City, the top of its three masts slamming into the iconic span and partially collapsing.

    https://nbc4i.co/3EYoqaT?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_NBC4

    I don't have problems, just more work to do.

  • ShawnOLShawnOL Posts: 11,048 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mexico has a navy? Why?

    Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.

  • Rdp77Rdp77 Posts: 7,469 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’m still trying to determine if that was a serious question or not.

  • YaksterYakster Posts: 29,570 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have friends from my High School Sailing Club that have been in the Tall Ship's Parade. Pretty cool, but this is tragic.

    Join us on Zoom vHerf (Meeting # 2619860114 Password vHerf2020 )
  • peter4jcpeter4jc Posts: 17,475 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Frank is wondering how many kids and kidneys he'll have to sell.

    "I could've had a Mi Querida!"   Nick Bardis
  • Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 9,362 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Whew! That was more than a mouthful. So, the plaintiffs may be removed, but not in the way that they were removed? I think?

    My own unlearned opinion is that we have rules such as Habeas Corpus for very good reasons, and that due process should never be ignored in this country. Even if the process involves people who are not legally residents, or even legally visitors.

    With that said, I'm still happy to see the TdA guys go back where they came from. Preferably as soon as possible.

    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
  • Rdp77Rdp77 Posts: 7,469 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Amos_Umwhat said:

    Whew! That was more than a mouthful. So, the plaintiffs may be removed, but not in the way that they were removed? I think?

    My own unlearned opinion is that we have rules such as Habeas Corpus for very good reasons, and that due process should never be ignored in this country. Even if the process involves people who are not legally residents, or even legally visitors.

    With that said, I'm still happy to see the TdA guys go back where they came from. Preferably as soon as possible.

    It basically said that it is not a Supreme Court matter yet. That the Circuit Court overstepped its bounds when it overruled the District court when the plaintiffs had not appealed to them. By granting the certiorari order they are knocking it back down to the lower courts so that jurisdictional prudence remains intact.

    I agree with what you said about the laws surrounding habeus corpus; however, in this instance, the plaintiffs and a Circuit judge are actually the ones trying to bypass the due process that is in place. A District judge denied an injunction and a Circuit judge overstepped by recending the ruling and awarding the injunction without the proper procedures.

  • Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 9,362 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks. That's the track that I was on, but I was unsure. I had to look up certiorari, which I saw involved a review by the higher court, but I got lost in thinking that the appeal had been made. Missed a step along the way, I suppose. Sounds like the Circuit Court was trying to make law, instead of interpret law, or at the very least jumping in where they didn't belong.

    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
  • silvermousesilvermouse Posts: 22,272 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Electric Entomology: How Insects Interact With Electricity in the Environment

    https://entomologytoday.org/2025/05/20/electric-entomology-insects-interact-electricity-environment/

  • Rdp77Rdp77 Posts: 7,469 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @silvermouse said:
    Electric Entomology: How Insects Interact With Electricity in the Environment

    https://entomologytoday.org/2025/05/20/electric-entomology-insects-interact-electricity-environment/

    I had an interestingly related conversation with someone awhile back. It was regarding insects being attracted to light. My questions were/are how do we know they are attracted to the light itself and not the electromagnetic field it produces? And if the insects are doing so at night, which more than likely makes them nocturnal, why would they be attracted to the light itself?

  • VisionVision Posts: 9,638 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CalvinAndHobo said:

    @TRayB said:

    @CalvinAndHobo said:

    @TRayB said:

    @Rdp77 said:
    https://apple.news/Ahmmo97ZBRdq7TnRa5rh8uw

    Didn’t think I’d ever see it happen.

    I, for one, am glad it has, and I hope he gets into the Hall.

    I pretty firmly disagree. If he was in fact only betting on his own team to win (which there's no way to prove, how do we know he wasn't taking them against the spread, or god forbid betting against them), then he's still impacting the integrity of the game. He can do things such as saving his best reliever for the next game, where he could have already bet what is called a look-ahead line. He can overextend a pitcher in a game that he has extra money on. He can know whether a promising young player is or isn't getting called up from the minor leagues. It's a cardinal sin for a reason, and I think that permanent lifetime ban from ever playing or being associated with the game in any way is an important thing for every future player or employee to have in the back of their mind, should they get approached by someone telling them to fake an injury, or tamper with the baseballs, or something like that.

    Calvin, I suspect you and I have significantly different perspectives on sports betting. You are working on making a living through betting, I care not a whit for anything more than a friendly $5 wager now and then, and based only on which team I WANT to win, no spread, no nothing. Just win or lose. Correct me if I am wrong, but your perspective on integrity of the game seems to be based on the effects of non-integrous behavior on the potential outcomes of sports betting.

    IMO, a player cannot seriously affect the integrity of the game. The game (any sport) is what it is, just a game. It will survive bad actors, who have been around in every era. There are plenty of integrity-challenged individuals who cast a bad light on their sport, yet are allowed to continue to participate in the game, and remain eligible for honors. I think what is meant by "integrity of the game", when spoken by leaders of leagues, is more related to the integrity of the league or organization controlling those players within the league. As was mentioned by others, gambling in sports was once forbidden, but now that most leagues, professional and otherwise, not only accept betting, but condone, sanction, and benefit from it, they have forfeited the high ground in claiming harm to the game's integrity.

    My take on Pete Rose is that, no, he should not have placed bets on any team within his sport while he was playing or managing, but if gambling in sports has gained acceptance of the league, then Pete Rose's performance on the field should be the greatest (or only) factor in his induction into the HOF, and there is no argument based on his performance that should keep him out.

    I think betting on the sport you're playing, and taking steroids, are very similar. If someone feels that cheating, in either form, is not a disqualifier from the hall of fame, then that's ideologically consistent at least. If we ignore my job, and think about it purely from a fan's point of view, then I think that black cloud that hangs over Pete Rose is important for the future of the game.

    You're 100% correct that gambling is being shoved down everyone's throats 24/7. It's obnoxious, invasive, and particularly harmful to teenagers watching the commercials and seeing lies being sold about potentially winning millions of dollars while their brains are developing. I agree with everything you said there.

    For me, I just think that black cloud is important for the integrity of the games in the future. In the same way that I don't go robbing Walmart due to the potential repercussions of it, I think that it's helpful to have that black cloud permanently hanging over people like Pete Rose, so that future players and team employees always have it in their head. Without the integrity of the game, a fan will lose interest. If the games are fixed, it's just WWE. If in the back of your mind, you're legitimately wondering if what you're watching is even real, will you still hold the same interest in the game, as a fan? Whatever we can do to reduce the number of Pete Rose scenarios, I think is good. I think that the permanent punishment, even after his lifetime is over, is a net positive to professional sports as a whole.

    But yet, Scott Foster still referees NBA games. I guess him and Tim were just calling each other back-and-forth thousands of times a year before games talking about the weather and the concession stands. Can you help me with this one?

  • TRayBTRayB Posts: 2,977 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If MLB truly cared about the integrity of the game, they'd hire a few umpires who know what a strike zone is, and maybe a few who could actually see it. They are getting exponentially worse calling balls and strikes.

  • CalvinAndHoboCalvinAndHobo Posts: 3,200 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Vision said:

    @CalvinAndHobo said:

    @TRayB said:

    @CalvinAndHobo said:

    @TRayB said:

    @Rdp77 said:
    https://apple.news/Ahmmo97ZBRdq7TnRa5rh8uw

    Didn’t think I’d ever see it happen.

    I, for one, am glad it has, and I hope he gets into the Hall.

    I pretty firmly disagree. If he was in fact only betting on his own team to win (which there's no way to prove, how do we know he wasn't taking them against the spread, or god forbid betting against them), then he's still impacting the integrity of the game. He can do things such as saving his best reliever for the next game, where he could have already bet what is called a look-ahead line. He can overextend a pitcher in a game that he has extra money on. He can know whether a promising young player is or isn't getting called up from the minor leagues. It's a cardinal sin for a reason, and I think that permanent lifetime ban from ever playing or being associated with the game in any way is an important thing for every future player or employee to have in the back of their mind, should they get approached by someone telling them to fake an injury, or tamper with the baseballs, or something like that.

    Calvin, I suspect you and I have significantly different perspectives on sports betting. You are working on making a living through betting, I care not a whit for anything more than a friendly $5 wager now and then, and based only on which team I WANT to win, no spread, no nothing. Just win or lose. Correct me if I am wrong, but your perspective on integrity of the game seems to be based on the effects of non-integrous behavior on the potential outcomes of sports betting.

    IMO, a player cannot seriously affect the integrity of the game. The game (any sport) is what it is, just a game. It will survive bad actors, who have been around in every era. There are plenty of integrity-challenged individuals who cast a bad light on their sport, yet are allowed to continue to participate in the game, and remain eligible for honors. I think what is meant by "integrity of the game", when spoken by leaders of leagues, is more related to the integrity of the league or organization controlling those players within the league. As was mentioned by others, gambling in sports was once forbidden, but now that most leagues, professional and otherwise, not only accept betting, but condone, sanction, and benefit from it, they have forfeited the high ground in claiming harm to the game's integrity.

    My take on Pete Rose is that, no, he should not have placed bets on any team within his sport while he was playing or managing, but if gambling in sports has gained acceptance of the league, then Pete Rose's performance on the field should be the greatest (or only) factor in his induction into the HOF, and there is no argument based on his performance that should keep him out.

    I think betting on the sport you're playing, and taking steroids, are very similar. If someone feels that cheating, in either form, is not a disqualifier from the hall of fame, then that's ideologically consistent at least. If we ignore my job, and think about it purely from a fan's point of view, then I think that black cloud that hangs over Pete Rose is important for the future of the game.

    You're 100% correct that gambling is being shoved down everyone's throats 24/7. It's obnoxious, invasive, and particularly harmful to teenagers watching the commercials and seeing lies being sold about potentially winning millions of dollars while their brains are developing. I agree with everything you said there.

    For me, I just think that black cloud is important for the integrity of the games in the future. In the same way that I don't go robbing Walmart due to the potential repercussions of it, I think that it's helpful to have that black cloud permanently hanging over people like Pete Rose, so that future players and team employees always have it in their head. Without the integrity of the game, a fan will lose interest. If the games are fixed, it's just WWE. If in the back of your mind, you're legitimately wondering if what you're watching is even real, will you still hold the same interest in the game, as a fan? Whatever we can do to reduce the number of Pete Rose scenarios, I think is good. I think that the permanent punishment, even after his lifetime is over, is a net positive to professional sports as a whole.

    But yet, Scott Foster still referees NBA games. I guess him and Tim were just calling each other back-and-forth thousands of times a year before games talking about the weather and the concession stands. Can you help me with this one?

    I think Scott Foster either used to be crooked, or still is crooked, but I obviously can't prove it.

  • silvermousesilvermouse Posts: 22,272 ✭✭✭✭✭

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-025-00740-6

    Artificial intelligence and free will: generative agents utilizing large language models have functional free will

  • d_bladesd_blades Posts: 4,263 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Is that why they make stuff up?

    Don't let the wife know what you spend on guns, ammo or cigars.

  • silvermousesilvermouse Posts: 22,272 ✭✭✭✭✭

    https://aeon.co/essays/what-is-the-cure-for-the-wests-individualist-worldview

    "The relational perspective, as Rošker points out, asks us to take ownership for society’s problems rather than seeing ourselves as innocent victims."

  • ShawnOLShawnOL Posts: 11,048 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The Chinese are at it again. How long will it be until they release this one on the world?

    "An unknown bacteria on Earth has developed in the Chinese space station: astronauts are facing a situation straight out of a science fiction movie."

    An unknown bacterium, never before seen on our planet, has been discovered in the Chinese space station Tiangong. This discovery, worthy of science-fiction scenarios, raises new questions about life in orbit and microbiological risks.

    A different kind of space bacteria
    In May 2023, during a routine mission carried out by the Shenzhou-15 crew, samples taken from a habitation module on the Chinese space station Tiangong revealed the presence of a bacterium previously unknown on Earth. Named Niallia tiangongensis, after the station where it was born, this species intrigues scientists because of its unique characteristics and its adaptation to the space environment.

    According to the study carried out as part of the China Space Station Habitation Area Microbiome Program (CHAMP), the microbiome on the Tiangong station differs markedly from that on the International Space Station (ISS). The researchers found a dominance of microbes associated with humans, but also marked functional and genetic diversity, with mutations probably linked to adaptation to the extreme conditions of space: microgravity, increased radiation, confinement and strict cleaning cycles.

    Niallia tiangongensis is related to Niallia circulans, a soil bacterium known for its robustness, formerly classified as a pathogenic Bacillus. Like its cousins, it is capable of forming spores, which act as survival capsules in the face of environmental stress. But what sets it apart is its unprecedented ability to break down gelatin to extract nitrogen and carbon, a precious asset for building a protective biofilm and withstanding the hostile conditions of space.

    On the other hand, it seems to have lost the ability to use other sources of energy, which testifies to the astonishing plasticity of living organisms when faced with a new environment. This capacity for rapid adaptation is a reminder of the extent to which space is a natural laboratory for microbial evolution.

    While it is not yet known whether Niallia tiangongensis poses a direct threat to the health of astronauts, its similarity to bacteria capable of causing severe infections in immunocompromised individuals means that caution is advised. Especially as the accumulation of mutations and the growing resistance to antibiotics observed in the station could complicate the management of any contamination.

    Researchers stress the importance of understanding how these micro-organisms settle, evolve and interact with humans and equipment on board. Because the risk is not just to health: uncontrolled microbial proliferation could also damage sensitive equipment, or even compromise the smooth running of missions.

    The discovery of Niallia tiangongensis is not an isolated case. Studies carried out in NASA’s clean rooms during preparations for the Phoenix mission to Mars revealed the presence of dozens of unknown bacterial species, capable of surviving in conditions that were thought to be sterile. These microbes owe their resilience to genes specialising in DNA repair and resistance to toxic substances.

    Faced with the prospect of manned missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond, mastering the space microbiome is becoming a crucial issue. It is no longer just a question of preventing contamination, but of anticipating how these organisms adapt and evolve in closed and extreme environments.

    The discovery of this unknown bacterium in the Tiangong station opens a new page in research into life in space. It serves as a reminder that, despite all the precautions taken, man is never alone on his interstellar journeys. Invisible micro-organisms could well play a key role in the success – or failure.

    Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.

  • Rdp77Rdp77 Posts: 7,469 ✭✭✭✭✭
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