The Harsh Couch

2026.09.21 Central Eucalypt Bureau

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 03:00:00 -0000

Quote

...We don't value remembering things as a society, anymore. Since the internet came about, I can just look (anything) up. You don't need to memorise your times tables, right? You can just use a calculator... Oh I don't need to know these things because I can look them up... you develop this learned helplessness...

– ThePrimeagen

Follow Up

131126 - Poisons Information Centre

“Brave1” just deployed more than 1000 drones in a single attack on Moscow https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/moscow-in-flames-after-record-drone-attack-aftermath-spreads-online/ar-AA2cBSzz

was this about elections? because... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/20/ukraine-war-briefing-kyiv-denounces-russias-inclusion-of-annexed-regions-in-parliamentary-elections

can I get some firebomb insurance coverage? https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/20/tobacco-shops-attacks-melbourne-ntwnfb

More mistaken identity murder https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/17/teenage-boys-charged-with-murder-university-student-ntwnfb

Cape Horn is No Simple Panama Alternative https://gcaptain.com/swedish-club-warns-cape-horn-is-no-simple-panama-canal-alternative/

Eleocarpus pics from an audient.

Dubious dark matter claims from another: Apparently a certain “Cunny” has some in a shed out the back of Copmanhurst. Presumably a troll

Things

Collapse in Cali https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20e360lx0vo

Can we please STOP talking about fucking “AGI” like it is a thing that is going to happen any time soon?

Also, is this a worry? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/15/syd-barrett-ai-chat-language-poetic-tech-bro-jargon-oversight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry_Penguins

Also, looks like the AI boom is pretty robust for now after all: https://www.groundbrkr.com/p/the-teaser-period-why-the-ai-boom

Ed Sheeran

Great idea Qld https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/16/anthropic-lands-31bn-datacentre-deal-in-western-queensland

Coal Vandals https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/20/a-coalmine-on-trishs-queensland-farm-has-been-abandoned-will-anyone-clean-it-up

Tom Tait Trump dinner? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-15/gold-coast-mayor-tom-tate-mar-a-lago-dinner-donald-trump/107155370

“pivot” after getting the money for... not pivoting https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-08/harrison-ai-lays-off-australian-staff-after-32m-investment/107110480

Less land for Native Title claims https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/17/aboriginal-land-councils-fear-new-nsw-bill-will-cut-land-open-to-traditional-owners-claims-ntwnfb

New laws around objecting to mines https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/16/queenslanders-rights-to-oppose-mining-projects-gutted-by-new-laws-activists-say

Piddington, Oxfordshire secedes: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckz7zyn1lwypo

That's a lot of white people in one place complaining about brown people … also, are any of these people aware of their country's complicity in creating refugees?

This is the smug white woman who announced the result.

Consequences, people! https://www.cfr.org/articles/the-u-s-took-over-venezuelas-oil-industry-where-has-all-the-money-gone https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/21/financial-crisis-ai-oil-market-2008-crash-disruption

Lots of nations are retrieving their gold from the USA

Germany is a notable exception, but it's causing big ruckus in the Bundesthingy

Weather: Bushfires already

WMO water report https://library.wmo.int/records/item/69923-state-of-global-water-resources-2025

ARkStorm 2.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARkStorm

For noting only:

Old Sydney Town https://youtu.be/NcfFrgf-Jyw https://guringai.org/2025/07/05/old-sydney-town/

Games (specifically excluding Chess)

Faaaaaaa Cup will be in the MCG with 80,000 fans - no wait, that’s the gridiron…

The US right decided they didn't like our Welcome to Country. Fuck 'em.

Melbourne Tram Drivers

fin

2026.09.07 Debasification

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 03:00:00 -0000

Quote

We don't have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it. - Douglas Adams

Follow Up

Disorganised Crime (People Setting Themselves On Fire) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-03/man-airlifted-to-melbourne-hospital-after-firebombing-gone-wrong/107110386 https://www.wyndhamtv.com.au/man-shot-outside-altona-north-cafe/

Also, the endless parade of shootings in Western Sydney that police and politicians are claiming are part of a new trend of murderers for hire (they have another name for it I can't recall right now)

Tobacco https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-03/coalition-unveils-plan-to-slash-tobacco-excise/107109642

https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/cancer-types/lung-cancer/lung-cancer-australia-statistics https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(24)00185-3/fulltext

Italy seems to be murdering women at about the same per capita rate as Australia https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/04/lorena-isceri-killed-in-florence-femicide-italy

And then there's the strangling thing https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/27/sydney-16yo-girl-death-suspected-sexual-choking-asphyxiation-ntwnfb

Anak Krakatau https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/07/volcano-eruption-indonesia-map-airports-closed-flights-mount-anak-krakatau

AfD https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/06/europe/germany-afd-state-election-majority-intl

Things

Scurvy https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/03/six-year-old-queensland-boy-dies-from-scurvy-vitamin-c-disease-19th-century-ntwnfb

The South African airline (Airlink) that did a flyover at the NZ-SA rugby tournament … within 5m of the stadium, and through the debris of a coloured smoke bomb. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3rew8jqny5o https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/flight-tracking-news/special-event/airlinks-low-flypast-over-rugby-match-in-cape-town/

Also, is Africa bigger now or the rest of the world smaller? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/04/un-vote-world-map-mercator-equal-earth-africa

US Military bases in Australia https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2026/sep/07/us-military-bases-in-australia-map-list-spy-satellite-pine-gap https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2026/sep/07/us-military-presence-in-australia-mapped-video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkia6zeu4oo

"The US military controls or has access to 92 defence facilities on Australian soil." https://ausbases.au/ausbases/

https://www.unz.com/article/debasification-a-fancy-word-for-booting-the-us-out-of-the-middle-east/ https://www.archynewsy.com/u-s-military-bases-in-okinawa-deterrence-burden-and-structural-discrimination/

A visual history of every interplanetary mission https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4b9R8Xqej4

Games (specifically excluding Chess)

fin

2026.08.31 The Chickens of Bannockburn

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:30:00 -0000

Quote

"The only way out of today's misery is for people to become worthy of each other's trust."

- Albert Schweitzer

Follow Up

Brave1 - not 11 https://www.techradar.com/pro/title-1-ukrainian-drone-giant-brave1-will-now-let-military-customers-order-custom-built-drones

The seventh wave https://www.surfsligo.com/%F0%9F%8C%8A-the-myth-of-the-7th-wave/

https://michaelwest.com.au/appeal-abandoned-rejection-of-ihra-antisemitism-definition-to-stand/

Things

RIP Dolly Parton

RIP Tim Curry

Hectic flooding in Nepal

Rivers, water not in spirals, etc

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2026/aug/27/deadly-flash-flood-shown-sweeping-through-valley-toward-village-in-nepal-video

Nancy Grace Roman’s fancy new telescope https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-telescope-named-for-mother-of-hubble-nancy-grace-roman/ https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/aug/29/nasa-telescope-launch-nancy-grace-roman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oh5xiFgLOA

🤗

Nvidia buying Huggingface? That can’t go wrong, like Google buying YouTube or Facebook buying WhatsApp and Instagram, Microsoft buying all the things... https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-talks-acquire-hugging-face-13-billion-deal-business-insider-reports-2026-08-27/

This story too:

SB Energy — owned by SoftBank, which also bankrolled it alongside OpenAI in January — builds the campus and drops $4.2 billion into the local grid. OpenAI signs a twenty-year lease for up to 8 gigawatts of capacity, filled exclusively with Nvidia’s chips. Nvidia guarantees the lease to $105 billion, takes an equity stake in the landlord, and gets to book the whole thing as future demand for its product. Jensen Huang, never one to undersell, says the site alone could be worth $200 billion in Nvidia revenue; and $600 billion across OpenAI’s full buildout by 2030.

And this bit:

Goldman estimates AI-related debt issuance near $500 billion this year alone; the BIS is already warning that private credit’s tech exposure has unpriced revenue risk written all over it. The 2008 version hid mortgage risk in CDOs.

(from https://medium.com/thought-thinkers/michael-burry-says-nvidia-is-enron-nvidia-just-gave-him-105-billion-more-evidence-a4938520e0bc )

Circular financing, Nvidia and Enron. https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/nvidia-circular-financing-gets-even-160103986.html

Nvidia funds SB Energy.
SB Energy builds the data center and leases it to OpenAI.
OpenAI fills that data center with Nvidia GPUs, purchased in part through financing Nvidia itself arranged.
Nvidia's revenue shows up twice: once as an investment return, once as a chip sale."

"That said, Nvidia's balance sheet strength doesn't erase the risk sitting one layer downstream. The $1.65 trillion in off-balance-sheet obligations Nikkei identified across the five largest hyperscalers rests on an assumption: that OpenAI and Anthropic keep growing and keep raising what they charge per token. The Wall Street Journal yesterday raised the tally to $3 trillion.

"Ironically, the thing that makes this financing web workable -- rising AI revenue -- is the same thing markets have no reliable way to verify yet. If enterprises pivot toward cheaper open-source or in-house models, the lease payments, credit guarantees, and chip financing tied to today's assumptions don't just slow. They come due against revenue that never showed up, potentially unraveling the whole.

Drug dev with AI https://www.axios.com/2026/07/20/artificial-intelligence-drug-development-impact?

GLP-1s in the news again: https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2026-08-31/telehealth-ozempic-wegovy-eating-disorder/107016932

Interesting developments in NZ politics https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/26/new-zealand-election-voters-despair-main-parties-and-opportunity-knocks

"The apparent rise of Opportunity – a self-described centrist party started three elections ago by economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan – has injected an unexpected element of drama into the election race. The contest features a weakening right bloc, with National’s polling flagging at about 29%. National and Labour are seeing their lowest combined support in 30 years, mirroring an international trend of minor parties gaining votes and influence."

The Endlessly Disappointing ALP https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-cuts-refugee-intake-by-a-third-20260826-p60rlg

Cash … is going away if we don't use it.

Water stuff: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/31/nsw-water-licenses-found-to-be-invalid-casting-doubt-on-regulator-powers https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-31/judgment-in-murray-darling-basin-class-action/107096734 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-19/barmah-sand-slug-murray-darling-basin-river-narrows-irrigation/106909984

Lake America https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/30/canada-trump-lake-ontario-name

Iran’s President Pezeshkian has arrived in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)’s annual summit.

According to Iran’s IRNA outlet, Pezeshkian is scheduled to deliver a speech at the summit and will also hold bilateral meetings with the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, as well as presidents of Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/india-takes-lead-as-brics-eyes-digital-payment-system-to-bypass-dollar-all-about-the-brics-payment-system-explained-1769746486976

And while we are in the ‘stans https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/31/turkmenistan-methane-leaks-un-alerts-mars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darvaza_gas_crater

Fewer places to hide out when the zombie hordes arrive https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-28/bunnings-costs-loss-mitre-10-jimboomba/107085360

Games (specifically excluding Chess)

UEFA really wants Gianni gone https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cx2zl5kwlxjo

RIP Western United https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-10/western-united-cut-from-a-leagues/107021526

The South Melbourne Football Club and their sexy times

fin

2026.08.24 Private Guano Hunters

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0000

Quote

"That is not only not right; it is not even wrong", or, in Pauli's native German, "Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig; es ist nicht einmal falsch!"

aka "That's not funny, it's not even a joke."

Follow Up

Weather

David McBride released

NSW Supreme Court on IHRA definition

Bird flu (H5N1) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/bird-flu-suspected-to-have-spread-to-seal-at-key-breeding-ground/107069984

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

Siberian flu

Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis

Crimea Congo Haemorroids

Ebola

The not-a-war and the Gulf of Vermouth

Tobacconists (and massage and barbers) (and ice cream shops) https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/vic/williamstown-melbourne-shop-fire-police-suspect-arson-attack-20260322-p5rme7.html https://www.victoriannews.com.au/news/melbourne-news/appeal-for-information-following-bandidos-extortion-and-arson-attack/

Mossad Minns and arming the CSG?! https://michaelwest.com.au/an-armed-jewish-police-force-minns-defies-police-and-opens-the-door/

Things

Gambling reform in Australia

Leaky weirs

American disease glut: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/23/child-dies-brain-eating-amoeba-infection-louisiana https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-lettuce-safe-to-eat-yet-new-data-suggests-cyclosporiasis-cases-are-slowing/ https://www.scrippsnews.com/life/recalls/more-than-400-people-sickened-in-salmonella-outbreak-linked-to-fresh-jalapenos https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

Ethmoid Plate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethmoid_bone

Beef mince https://youtu.be/nYUU7d0w0XM?si=49gJQD0CCkFsnUQN

Deep sea mining https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/24/trump-plans-critical-minerals-deep-sea-mining-pacific-islands

The Shackleton Fracture Zone

The Drake Passage

The whole ICAC shitshow du jour https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/24/dominic-perrottet-brother-charles-secret-recording-icac-inquiry-ntwnfb

Racism and swimming pools https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/24/scrapping-of-berlin-swimming-day-for-black-children-becomes-latest-in-long-list-of-race-linked-pool-rows https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/24/german-swimming-lake-heidesee-ban-non-german-speakers

Dodgy internet peptides https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/contaminated-peptide-tests-liver-damage-hospitalisations/107070478

John Goodman

A horse is a horse, of course, of course, but also a dog whistle for One Nation types and rich people https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-24/brumby-cull-activist-seeks-urgent-court-action/107071512 https://carmenjacksonheritage.com/about

Rivers

Is The Big Bang Bunk? https://www.space.com/astronomy/james-webb-space-telescope/farthest-black-hole-star-ever-found-could-help-solve-the-james-webb-space-telescopes-little-red-dot-mystery https://www.space.com/space-exploration/james-webb-space-telescope/is-our-universe-trapped-inside-a-black-hole-this-james-webb-space-telescope-discovery-might-blow-your-mind

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251129053349.htm

fin

2026.08.10 We are back

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0000

Quote

The Second Coming - William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming

Follow Up

MH370 https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/airlines/a71923663/mh370-missing-plane-search-new-clue/

Straya

2021

Coal-ition committed to Net Zero by 2050, but not by reducing fossil fuel use. Apparently magic technology is going to save us. With the benefit of hindsight, technology just turned around and upped its consumption.
Jenkins report revealed misogyny and toxic workplace issues in Parly

2022

Coal-ition lost in a landslide, Teal wave?
Dutton becomes Opposition leader
We learned about Scummo's secret ministries
NACC established in the most milquetoast way possible

2023

AUKUS expansion by The Endlessly Disappointing™ ALP. Formal announcement of nuclear subs plan with Biden and Rishi Sunak
Voice referendum defeated
High Court declares indefinite detention regime unlawful

2024

Stage 3 tax cuts restructured
Scummo out of parliament

2025

Fed election … ALP expanded majority

Failed States (and Canada)

2021

Bipartisan Infrastructure stuff pushed by Biden … all the good stuff stripped out

2022

Roe v Wade overturned by Supreme Court

2023

Trump indictments and felony convictions

2024

Republicans take Prez, House and Senate
(Canada) Justin Trudeau resignation and 2025 election

2025

DoGE and the rest
Aggressive deregulation and destruction of US state
ICE deployments and murders

Middle East

2021-2022

Blah blah blah

2023

Hamas, Oct 7 attack
Escalation … always escalation
Houthis attacking shipping

2024

Direct exchange of strikes Israel, Iran, Hezbollah
Assad dictatorship collapse (Dec)

2025-2026

Cuntz being cuntz

Europe

2022

Russia invades Ukraine (energy companies profit)

2023

Far right makes gains (including Meloni in Italy, Wilders in the Netherlands, the AfD in Germany, and RN in France)

2022

Liz Truss
QE2 dead

Things

The weather here and there

Betting on bushfires https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/08/senators-demand-crackdown-on-wildfire-prediction-markets/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-journalist-reported-a-missile-strike-then-came-the-death-threats/ar-AA1YOoDi

Body in a suitcase near the Shoalhaven river https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/09/body-woman-found-suitcase-regional-nsw-road-ntwnfb

Enclave of the week https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceuta

fin

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

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 10:00:00 -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

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 10:00:00 -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

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 12:00:00 -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

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -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

Thu, 27 May 2021 22:15:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2021-05-24/ for show notes.

2021.05.18 Super Glue and Dogs' Balls

Thu, 27 May 2021 22:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2021-05-18/ for show notes.

2021.05.11 The Podcast for National Resilience

Wed, 12 May 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2021-05-11/ for show notes.

2021.03.08 Alive

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 16:00:00 -0000

Visit http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2021-03-08/ for show notes.

2020.12.07 A Shit Proxy

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

In the final analysis, everything we do in space, if it does not help the people of Earth, all the people, it's not going to happen. - Ben Bova

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

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2020.10.26 Primate of the Visigothic Kingdom

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

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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

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2020.10.05 Bonsai Walrus

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

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2020.09.28 Aether

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

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2020.09.21 Nanga Skrang

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

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2020.09.14 The Incidental Pedant

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

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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.