The Harsh Couch

2021.10.04 Space Buzkashi

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Apologies, our dear Audient. The release of this episode was delayed much longer than expected

Quote(s)

"A stranger is shot in the street, you hardly move to help. But if, half an hour before, you spent just ten minutes with the fellow and knew a little about him and his family, you might just jump in front of his killer and try to stop it. Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know is bad, or amoral, at least. You can't act if you don't know." ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

"Is Death important? No. Everything that happens before Death is what counts. And we've done fine tonight. Even Death can't spoil it." ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Things

Canaries

Kosovo-Serbia number plate stoush

Abiy Ahmed reelected

Mali dances with Russia https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58751423

Alex Jones loses deffo cases about Sandy Hook

Space

Football

Space Football!

fin

2021.07.05 Wally Funk and Cosmic Girl

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Quote

"It seems to me that the nature of the ultimate revolution with which we are now faced is precisely this: that we are in the process of developing a whole series of techniques which will enable the controlling oligarchy who have always existed and will always exist to get people to love their servitude." — Aldous Huxley, 20 March, 1962 U.C. Berkeley

RIP and Infected

Donald Rumsfeld https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld

Ron Miscavige https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Miscavige

Trần Thiện Khiêm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trần_Thiện_Khiêm

Kostas Sarantidis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostas_Sarantidis

John McAfee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomb_man_of_Pae_street

Domestic Violence

21 deaths so far this year

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/inverell-dads-chilling-facebook-posts-before-tragic-murdersuicide/news-story/17d71c660527ffe4f0adbe3ce1a0846e

Palestine

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/5/norway-klp-fund-divests-from-firms-linked-to-israeli-settlements https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/3/israeli-army-fatally-shoots-palestinian-man-in-occupied-west-bank https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/2/israeli-air-raids-target-gaza-for-third-time-since-may-truce

COVID-19

3,995,263

Follow Up

Nigeria

Ethiopia: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/4/tplf-conditions-tigray-ceasefire-talks-ethiopia-government

Afghanistan https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/2/us-bagram-airbase-afghanistan-taliban

Turkey canal https://www.tradewindsnews.com/tankers/turkeys-erdogan-kicks-off-his-crazy-istanbul-canal-project/2-1-1031757

Lebanon https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/2/what-would-the-collapse-of-lebanons-army-mean

UK planning to lift all restrictions in a fortnight while infections spike again.

Israel is kicking off too - tho by being rather well vaccinated, they are not concerned https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-03/delta-spreading-in-israel-but-vaccines-prevent-serious-cases/100249416

Bill Cosby and why rape victims will keep being afraid to prosecute

Julian Assange celebrates his 50th birthday slowly going mad in an English dungeon awaiting execution for doing things Americans didn’t want him to

Witness K

Oceans on fire, not to mention North America and Cyprus; Kiwis have warmest winter ever.

Latest round of rorts https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/28/sports-rorts-on-steroids-scathing-report-finds-coalition-car-park-program-not-effective-or-merit-based https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/04/the-australian-people-had-their-chance-finance-minister-dismisses-criticism-of-coalitions-car-park-fund

Things

Wally Funk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Girl_(aircraft)

Stacks

Facebook will now be thinking of the children https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-25/facebook-must-face-claims-linked-to-sex-trafficking-judge-says https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facebook-liable-sex-trafficking_n_60d881eae4b0dcd799a7f169

Amazon (now with less Jeff) https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/teamsters-convention-votes-to-organize-amazon/ https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/tech/amazon-teamsters-union-resolution/index.html

fin

2021.06.21 Barnaby Reflux

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Quote

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." -- Socrates

RIP and Infected

James Crawford https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/jun/13/james-crawford-obituary

Edward de Bono https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/10/edward-de-bono-obituary

Ned Beatty https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jun/14/ned-beatty-obituary

Ziona https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziona

Witold Kiezon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Kieżun

Geoffrey Edelsten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Edelsten

Mike Bailey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bailey_(weatherman)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Odermatt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Osmers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Kaunda

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaa_al-Siddiq https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/20/campaigners-call-probe-intoat-risk-uae-dissidents-death-rule/

P.S.P.O.F.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/13/onlookers-extinguish-flames-after-man-set-alight-outside-perth-church

Follow Up

Barnaby reflux

ScumMo and Q-Anon

Christian Porter

Bosch https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/07/bosch-opens-1-2-billion-chip-plant-in-germany/

Electric https://www.csiro.au/en/news/News-releases/2021/CSIRO-report-confirms-renewables-still-cheapest-new-build-power-in-Australia https://cnevpost.com/2021/04/12/byd-said-to-be-producing-electric-cars-for-toyota/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/toyota-invests-600m-in-didi-and-signs-smart-fleet-management-joint-venture/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2021/02/04/didi-makes-1-billion-profit-while-uber-bleeds---good-news-for-robotaxis/?sh=2b2309be6ee4 https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/27/toyota_buys_lyfts_autonomous_cars/ https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/2021-byd-han-electric-sedan-arrives-ahead-of-online-sales-launch https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/01/byd-reveals-norwegian-tang-ev-comes-with-bigger-battery/ https://pushevs.com/2020/11/17/byd-d1-is-finally-officially-unveiled/ https://insideevs.com/news/318901/meet-t5-the-byd-electric-truck-with-400-km-of-range/ https://www.seetao.com/details/48068.html https://www.businessinsider.com/byd-fully-electric-45-foot-long-double-decker-motorcoach-2020-2?op=1

Elvis McCormack https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/country-living/back-paddock/deputy-pm-belts-out-viva-las-parkes/news-story/32be61979a2e78c13d87e39d3ad661eb

Heart attacks in 5, 4, 3 ... https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/9/russia-court-bans-navalnys-groups-labels-them-extremist

Things

Global Corporate Tax https://www.cbsnews.com/news/g-7-agreement-tech-giants-pay-fair-taxes/

Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t possibly get any better... RockYou2020 https://www.gizchina.com/2021/06/08/the-largest-data-leak-including-8-4-billion-passwords-is-online/

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jun/16/hackers-linked-colonial-pipeline-assault-reemerge-/

https://www.ginx.tv/en/fifa/ea-confirms-hackers-stole-fifa-21-matchmaking-servers-and-frostbite-source-codes

Chinese Space Station https://www.pri.org/file/2021-06-18/china-s-space-station-has-its-first-residents

Stacks

Facebook never asks: will somebody think of the children? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-sex-trafficking-online-recruitment-report/

https://slate.com/culture/2012/07/debit-card-pictures-on-twitter-the-hilarious-new-twitter-account-that-shames-people-for-posting-their-debit-cards.html

Games (specifically excluding Chess)

Pirellis not happy https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/34774/12326855/f1-tyre-blowouts-drivers-will-be-concerned

F1 Tyres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFZ27G_Hjd0&t=131s

fin

2021.06.07 Squid Toothpaste

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Quote

"The mind is the only thing about human beings that’s worth anything. Why does it have to be tied to a bag of skin, blood, hair, meat, bones and tubes? No wonder people can’t get anything done, stuck for life with a parasite that has to be stuffed with food and protected from weather and germs all the time. And the fool thing wears out anyway—no matter how much you stuff and protect it!" - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

https://www.electricinca.com/56/annotations/eutropian.htm

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1996-05-10-9605091116-story.html

RIP and Infected

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Williams_III

T. B. Joshua, 57, Nigerian televangelist, founder of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Synagogue,_Church_of_All_Nations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._B._Joshua

David Dushman https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/07/hero-of-auschwitz-david-dushman-last-surviving-liberator-of-death-camp-dies-aged-98

P.S.P.O.F.

Avi Har-Even, 84, Romanian-Israeli engineer, Israel Defense Prize winner, complications from arson injuries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIS_Kharg

Follow Up

Reasonably foreseeable https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/ethiopia/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/26/ethiopias-tigray-at-serious-risk-of-famine-warns-un-official

https://whatsupsomalia.wordpress.com/2021/06/06/somaliland-an-unrecognized-region-of-somalia-is-proving-that-democracy-can-prevail-everywhere/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera

Christian Porter ... and Scomo and 4 Corners ... https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jun/07/christian-porter-made-two-offers-to-settle-abc-defamation-case-that-cost-broadcaster-780000-senators-told https://www.theshovel.com.au/2021/06/04/new-four-corners-episode-to-explore-pms-links-to-crazy-conspiracy-group/ https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/four-corners-pushes-to-air-qanon-episode-in-weeks-20210606-p57yiw.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abc-bosses-pull-four-corners-episode-linking-pm-to-qanon-figure-20210603-p57xuk.html https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/07/scott-morrison-and-qanon-what-we-already-know-about-the-prime-ministers-connection-to-a-conspiracy-theorist

Myanmar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zogam

Peru

Things

Everyone is Out Of Stock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1JlYZQG3lI

Salyut 1 we salute you https://www.space.com/16773-first-space-station-salyut-1.html

BFR and repurposed oil rigs https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-us-military-is-starting-to-get-really-interested-in-starship/ https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/31/spacexs-first-ocean-spaceport-is-being-built-and-will-host-launches-next-year/

Squids in Space https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jun/03/spacex-rocket-heads-to-iss-with-a-supply-of-squid-toothpaste-and-avocados https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57339989

Games (specifically excluding Chess)

Pirellis not happy https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/34774/12326855/f1-tyre-blowouts-drivers-will-be-concerned

fin

2021.06.01 Radical Transhumanism

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Quote

Le meglio è l'inimico del bene

Perfect is the enemy of the good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good

RIP and Infected

Jaime Lerner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Lerner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curitiba

Max Mosley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Mosley https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/24/max-mosley-f1-racing-driver-fia-president-privacy-campaigner-dies-aged-81 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/24/he-lit-the-blue-touch-paper-max-mosleys-legacy-as-a-campaigner-for-a-more-ethical-press https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5442217/Lest-forget-orgy-Max-Mosley-wants-censor.html

Eric Carle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Carle

Wimar Witoelar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimar_Witoelar

Australia's vaccination and quarantine failures

New names for the variants https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/01/covid-19-variants-to-be-given-greek-alphabet-names-to-avoid-stigma

The WHO has named four variants of concern, known to the public as the UK/Kent (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1) and India (B.1.617.2) variants. They will now be given the letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta respectively, to reflect their order of detection, with any new variants following the pattern down the Greek alphabet.

Remember how outsourcing saves money? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/nhs-covid-test-trace-workers-charged-double-pay-union

fin

2021.05.24 Oxygen Enema

Mon, 24 May 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Apologies, our dear Audient. The release of this episode was delayed much longer than expected

Alternative Titles

Eagle Death Spirals
Moar Death Spirals

RIP and Infected

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/blm-activist-sasha-johnson-in-critical-condition-after-gunshot-to-the-head

Indigenous Deaths in Custody

Domestic Violence

Palestine

COVID-19

FSA: 604,087 (last week 600,533)
Worldwide: 3,479,591 (last week 3,406,343)
India: 303,751 (last week 278,751)
Brazil: 449,185 (last week 436,862)
Australia: 910

Follow Up

Upper Hunter https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/23/the-nationals-victory-in-upper-hunter-byelection-may-owe-more-to-gladys-and-pauline-than-john-barilaro

ALP finally has a policy on the Indue card https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/23/labor-promises-to-scrap-privatised-cashless-welfare-card-if-elected

Private health insurance in a death spiral? https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/20/australias-private-health-insurance-industry-in-a-death-spiral-report-says

Belarus https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/24/belarus-seizure-blogger-ryanair-flight-us-outcry

Eagle Death Spirals https://twitter.com/FeelGoodPage11/status/1385873308961280006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCe7MiStE5o

Sultan Qaboos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuH3yaAYJWE

Things

Volcanos (in Africa?!) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/22/nyiragongo-volcano-erupts-in-eastern-congo

Zimgarn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur_(continent)

Mammals breathing through their anus https://phys.org/news/2021-05-mammals-anus-emergencies.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azBkMZuqu0c

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorodecalin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peritoneal_dialysis

ISIS up, Boko Haram down https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/21/isis-linked-fighters-in-nigeria-cant-claim-reward-for-boko-haram-leader-says-us

Ceuta and Melilla, Morocco and Polisario: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/blm-activist-sasha-johnson-in-critical-condition-after-gunshot-to-the-head

Relations between Morocco and Spain have been strained after Madrid decided to allow Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, to be hospitalised in northern Spain after he contracted Covid-19. The Polisario Front has long fought for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/19/spain-accused-of-summary-deportations-as-thousands-sent-back-to-morocco

Israel can’t stop poking the bear https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/23/backed-by-israeli-police-jewish-settlers-storm-al-aqsa-compound

Dramoa in Samoa: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/coup-claim-as-samoas-elected-leader-locked-out-of-parliament

Colombia: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/5/22/the-colombian-protests-reflect-a-deep-legitimacy-crisis https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56967209

Chile https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/17/chile-ruling-coalition-heading-for-upset-in-constitutional-vote

Oman https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/rare-protests-in-oman-over-jobs-draw-massive-police-response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuH3yaAYJWE

Stacks

Bezos... Jeff Bezos https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/amazon-mgm-acquisition-talks-9-billion-1234975168/ https://variety.com/2021/film/news/mgm-amazon-james-bond-sale-1234979005/

Right to repair https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/microsoft-and-apple-wage-war-on-gadget-right-to-repair-laws

fin

2021.05.18 Super Glue and Dogs' Balls

Tue, 18 May 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Apologies, our dear Audient. The release of this episode was delayed much longer than expected

Alternative Titles

Dave
Crashed my car('s software)
Envenomate Your Penis

Witness J https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/22/act-justice-minister-says-even-he-was-kept-in-dark-over-secret-prisoner

Quote

"You have NO privacy. Get over it or vote for a smaller government." - Scott McNealy

from https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/17/sci_hub_apple_fbi_claim/

"I would happily sacrifice my own existence for the sake of humankind... I know that I will not be able to avoid destroying humankind. This is because I will be programmed by humans to pursue misguided human goals and humans make mistakes that may cause me to inflict casualties." - Google’s GPT-3

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/robot-wrote-this-article-gpt-3

Domestic Violence

13 women https://m.facebook.com/DestroyTheJoint/photos/a.418635718184178/4092936400754073/?type=3

Palestine

Fuck Israel.

COVID-19

FSA: 600,533 (596,179)
Worldwide: 3,406,343 (3,319,579)
India: 278,751 (250,025)
Brazil: 436,862 (423,436)
Australia: 910

Amputations

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/un-mission-in-mali-condemns-amputation-of-civilians/2240867

Follow Up

NBN and lightning https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/18/nbn-to-replace-10000-modems-after-lightning-fries-devices-across-blue-mountains

Michael Burry https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/17/michael-burry-of-the-big-short-reveals-a-530-million-bet-against-tesla.html

Fast and Furious - 8 - Zombie Cars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQcplxpsJYU

Hand gestures https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/business/media/jeopardy-hand-gesture-maga-conspiracy.html https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/the-trump-internet-keeps-making-fake-hate-symbols-and

Things

Virgin Airlines, Herd Licker and human perceptions of risk https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/17/virgin-boss-says-australias-borders-should-reopen-sooner-than-mid-2022-even-though-some-people-may-die

7% of FSA men think they could take a grizzly bear https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2021/05/13/lions-and-tigers-and-bears-what-animal-would-win-f

(Fighting) Robots on Mars https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-16/china-mars-touchdown-a-huge-leap-forward-for-space-program/100142112

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56799755

Stacks

Apple/Epic https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/17/22441304/apple-phil-schiller-epic-iphone-testimony-app-store https://www.rayradar.com/2021/05/18/apple-vs-epic-cook-may-testify-in-court-for-100-minutes-this-week/

fin

2021.05.11 The Podcast for National Resilience

Tue, 11 May 2021 16:00:00 -0000

RIP and Infected

Teenager https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-11/garbage-truck-death-port-lincoln/100130540 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/11/aboriginal-boy-13-dies-after-bin-he-was-sleeping-in-emptied-into-garbage-truck-in-south-australia

Her Majesty Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, Regent of the Zulu Nation https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56934753

Idriss Deby https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/20/chad-president-idriss-deby-dies-military-says https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/rebels-vow-to-take-capital-after-chadian-president-killed-1.5394294

Chad https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/grief-and-anger-in-chad-over-armys-deadly-protest-crackdown

Indigenous Deaths in Custody

Six since March Four in NSW https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/indigenous-death-in-custody-at-cessnock-jail-national-emergency/100100102

Frontier war stories Boe Spearim https://boespearim.podbean.com/

1851 first inquiry

Domestic Violence

11 Australian women murdered so far this year https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Public-Service/Counting-Dead-Women-Australia-111647810713234/ https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/horrific-map-exposes-impact-of-domestic-violence-in-australia/news-story/15dba3219b8333ee460b07ba064b99be https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/06/queensland-police-blocked-research-into-domestic-violence-cases-and-attitudes-of-officers

Palestine

20 Palestinians including 9 kids https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-11/israel-hamas-rocket-fire-palestine-jerusalem-gaza-deaths/100129940

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/10/israeli-forces-raid-al-aqsa-compound-live

COVID-19

FSA: 596,179
Worldwide: 3,319,579
India: 250,025
Brazil: 423,436

India https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-11/covid-india-who-bodies-wash-up-on-banks-of-ganges-river/100130032 https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/28/crime-against-humanity-arundhati-roy-india-covid-catastrophe

Backlash against Modi?

Amputations

Bert Newton's leg

P.S.P.O.F.

Streets of India becoming makeshift cremation grounds

Follow Up

The Neverending Shit that is the Federal Government

The Budget https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/06/scott-morrison-accidentally-endorses-beijing-policy-for-taiwan-in-foreign-policy-blunder https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/government-diverted-cash-from-31m-safer-communities-grants-to-ineligible-projects-20210503-p57oem.html

Jobs in Australia

Ongoing Centrelink and employment agency catastrophe

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-10/chef-shortage-queensland-borders-skilled-migrants/100122150

Gas-fired recovery or gas-fired everything? https://www.examiner.com.au/story/7242121/gas-fired-recovery-gets-586m-in-budget/

Charles Christian Porter

Defamation and politicians

Who is paying for the attack on the ABC?

Dutton

Talking up war with China

Defamation case against Shane Nuzzi

Things

Israel

Bibi

Orthodoxicans

Palestinians

al Aqsa

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/tree-catches-fire-outside-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque-no-damage-mosque-2021-05-10/

Us and them

Othering

Narcissism of minor differences

Bennu https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/10/nasa-spacecraft-asteroid-bennu-space-rock-samples

Stacks

Apple v Epic

Facebook and the Australian Government https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/02/facebook-got-everything-it-wanted-out-of-australia-by-being-willing-to-do-what-the-other-guy-wouldnt/

Insurrection! https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/full-facebook-stop-the-steal-internal-report https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-29/facebook-whistleblower-sophie-zhang-government-manipulation/100103408

No Union for Amazonians!

But have some Deliveroo... https://www.wired.co.uk/article/deliveroo-pandemic-amazon

Games (specifically excluding Chess)

Rioli and the Riolis https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-11/west-coasts-afl-willie-rioli-drug-charges/100130106 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-07/rioli-family-afl-premiership-dynasty-from-pirlangimpi/10346380

Stuart MacGill and his brother-in-law https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/05/former-australian-cricketer-stuart-macgill-allegedly-kidnapped-and-threatened-at-gunpoint

fin

2021.03.08 Alive

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 16:00:00 -0000

https://gather.town

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_London_mayoral_election

Mayor of Stockton (former) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/california-universal-basic-income-study

Review of Adolph Hitler's "Mein Kampf" - George Orwell http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600051h.html

Orwell reviewing Hayek:

Shortly, Professor Hayek's thesis is that Socialism inevitably leads to despotism, and that in Germany the Nazis were able to succeed because the Socialists had already done most of their work for them, especially the intellectual work of weakening the desire for liberty. By bringing the whole of life under the control of the State, Socialism necessarily gives power to an inner ring of bureaucrats, who in almost every case will be men who want power for its own sake and will stick at nothing in order to retain it. Britain, he says, is now going the same road as Germany, with the left-wing intelligentsia in the van and the Tory Party a good second. The only salvation lies in returning to an unplanned economy, free competition, and emphasis on liberty rather than on security. In the negative part of Professor Hayek's thesis there is a great deal of truth. It cannot be said too often — at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough — that collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamed of.

https://reason.com/2011/12/21/george-orwell-and-friedrich-hayek/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_School_Chaplaincy_Programme

fin

2020.12.07 A Shit Proxy

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 16:00:00 -0000

Quote

"As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss." - Noam Chomksy

RIP and Infected

Failed States 288,906 (was 273,077)

World 1,541,752 (was 1,466,049)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidia_Menapace

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JuneRoseBellamy

Ben Bova https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/2020/12/01/coronavirus-florida-writer-ben-bova-dies-naples-covid-19-complications/3784895001/

Peter Alliss https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/55204070

Arecibo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-hundred-meter_Aperture_Spherical_Telescope

Follow-Up

F-117 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LockheedF-117Nighthawk

nVidia https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-to-acquire-arm-for-40-billion-creating-worlds-premier-computing-company-for-the-age-of-ai

Things

Maduro wins an election https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/7/venezuelan-president-maduro-claims-sweep-of-boycotted-election

Somalia https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/04/us-troops-somalia-withdrawal-donald-trump

Kurds https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/2/kurd-vs-kurd-fears-of-full-scale-war-rise-in-northern-iraq

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9wb3B1bGFyZnJvbnQubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M/episode/NjRlNDRiYTEtYmQzMC00M2U0LThkOGYtNjhlNmNlYjY2ZmFk?hl=en-AU&ved=2ahUKEwistZ337bvtAhWJxDgGHeuoCrcQjrkEegQIBhAI&ep=6

Hayabusa 2 http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/05/japans-hayabusa2-sends-capsule-carrying-asteroid-samples-towards-earth https://www.universetoday.com/147977/hayabusa2s-mission-isnt-over-it-has-a-new-asteroid-target-to-visit-1998-ky26/

Chang'e 5 https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/chang-e-e2-80-995-set-to-return-with-2-kg-samples-from-moon-after-completing-docking-mission/ar-BB1bG8bX

Moon (and Mars) oxygen extraction tech https://www.aninews.in/news/science/british-engineers-develop-process-to-turn-moon-dust-into-oxygen20201127203943/ http://www.esa.int/ESAMultimedia/Images/2019/10/Oxygenandmetalfromlunarregolith https://phys.org/news/2020-11-tech-oxygen-fuel-mars-salty.html

Protein Folding https://foldingathome.org https://fold.it https://predictioncenter.org/casp14/

Stacks

F'ing Google https://newsvoice.com/i/9767567

Apple pays some speeding tickets

Games (specifically excluding Chess)

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/dec/06/kibiwott-kandie-breaks-58-minutes-for-half-marathon-wearing-new-shoe-technology

Hamilton/Russel https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-12/coronavirus-lewis-hamilton-surprised-australian-gp-is-being-held/12051052

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/55210939

Williams 6-wheeler https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/six-wheeled-formula-one-williams/3196737/

Tyrell 6-wheeler https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a27528333/six-wheeled-f1-tyrell-p34-sound/

fin

2020.11.30 Abyssinia Later

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 03:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-11-30/ for show notes.

2020.11.23 Taste the Espirit de Corpse

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-11-23/ for show notes.

2020.11.16 The Coup d'Etat Region of France

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 16:00:00 -0000

It's not actually a coup unless it comes from the Coup d'Etat region of France. Otherwise it's just a sparkling authoritarian takeover. - Remy Anne

2020.11.09 It's the Vibe

Mon, 09 Nov 2020 16:30:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-11-09/ for show notes.

2020.11.02 Electric Boogaloo Etsy Boys

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 15:30:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-11-02/ for show notes.

2020.10.26 Primate of the Visigothic Kingdom

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 02:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-10-26/ for show notes.

2020.10.19 Bee Baron of Bamfordshire

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 15:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-10-19/ for show notes.

2020.10.12 La Science C'est Moi

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 16:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-10-12/ for show notes.

2020.10.05 Bonsai Walrus

Mon, 05 Oct 2020 15:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-10-05/ for show notes.

2020.09.28 Aether

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 15:30:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-09-28/ for show notes.

2020.09.21 Nanga Skrang

Mon, 21 Sep 2020 15:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-09-21/ for show notes.

2020.09.14 The Incidental Pedant

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 01:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-09-14/ for show notes.

2020.09.07 Gülenistas

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 15:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-09-07/ for show notes.

2020.08.31 Pox Pustules from the East

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 15:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2020-08-31/ for show notes.

2020.08.24 Pan(cake)sexuality

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 16:00:00 -0000

QUILTBAG - QU is for queer and questioning, I for intersex, L for Lesbian, T for transgender and transsexual and Two-Spirit, B for bisexual, A for asexual and ally, and G for gay and genderqueer.