leicsmac

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q5y2yqw2zo Democratic and Republican lawmakers peppered US President Donald Trump's nominee for surgeon general with hours of questions at a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, asking Casey Means about her stands on vaccines and more. Means - a doctor, entrepreneur, and health influencer - was also questioned heavily about her qualifications and possible conflicts of interest. Unlike past surgeons general, who lead the 6,000-person US Public Health Service, the 38-year-old Stanford-trained doctor does not have an active medical licence. An antivax Surgeon General without a medical licence. Interesting.

The Overton Window and how it moves is often a fascinating thing. I've said it before, but I think a system of political compassing based on late 18th century France is rather outmoded in 2026 anyway. There's far more effective and relevant lines along which to divide ideological viewpoints now.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewzg77k721o The UK's first geothermal power plant is set to go live, providing a completely new type of renewable electricity using hot water from underground. On Thursday morning, the Cornish plant will be switched on after nearly two decades in development which required Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) to drill the deepest on-shore well in the UK. The water, super-heated by rocks, will help drive turbines to generate electricity for 10,000 homes, but will also provide the UK's first domestic supply of lithium - a critical mineral used in green technology. The British Geological Survey said it was a "major step forward" for geothermal but high drilling costs could make replicating the project difficult. Geothermal is certainly part of the suite of solutions needed. Little bit frustrating that the time and monetary costs have been so high, though.

It won't just save lives, it may well save both our civilisation and our species. Those are the stakes here, as much as some folks might deny it.

Honestly, I'm not sure which label is put on it really matters. What matters is that divisive, tribal, individualistic ideology that results in ever increasing inequality between both individuals and groups will fvck us all. That is a practically an inevitability, in one of a hundred different ways.

NZ showing the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts, again. Mind you, there have been quite a few crushing wins in the Super Eight stage so far.

Apparently it does, if subsequent response is any judge...? If someone cannot or will not make a distinction between the harm to life (human and otherwise) a President like Trump has caused and at least some of those before him caused, then I'm not sure how much more can be said here other than we view the situation entirely differently.

I'm not sure it's particularly funny when the suffering and worse of a great many people is the punchline.

That was a lot closer than it perhaps needed to be. Still, any one you walk away from. Semi final sorted with one game still to play.

Tariq throws the ball rather than bowling it. I said what I said.

This is the Brook we want to see. Winning this match guarantees a semi final spot no matter what.

165 to chase. About even money imo.

Adil Rashid with some brilliant spin bowling here.

Certainly, though it is a more nuanced view of human behaviour by virtue of pointing out it is an individual flaw rather than simply bracketing it as behaviour humanity is predestined to engage in. Either way, however, that sentiment is neutralised from human decision making, or the Earth, likely coupled with that same sentiment, does the same to our species, along with a great many others.

I have not read those, but they are on my list. We should absolutely be good custodians of our Earth, as much as we can, for as long as we can. But as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky said, "Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever".

Is it too much to say that pretty much everything about that Baftas incident, during and after, was and is a shitshow from everyone apart from probably Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan?

That's of course your prerogative. Have a good evening.

Fine. The action of those global players, including manipulating those with less power to do their dirty work for them will result, as it has throughout history, in a great deal of death and suffering. The next time, given the advancement of tech, the toll could be truly massive. Those left afterwards, in a world so royally screwed up, will blame every single one of us for that happening. Whether a person was active, or if they simply didn't do enough to stop it. There's a bit of "human nature" - the desire to apply blame. As such, people can plead powerlessness as much as they like, rightly or wrongly it simply isn't going to wash should the worst happen. It's very easy to stand by and say that horrible things happen and there's nothing that can be done about it. The world changes, and the future, a better future is guaranteed, however, by those who do what they can - however apparently small - to help that change come about. Or I guess we can simply sink into the morass of misanthropy and wallow in our own lack of agency until everyone is screwed. That's a choice, too.

Should the worst come to the worst, the ones who are left will do exactly that. They won't be discerning, so in order to help prevent that from happening I'm not sure we should be now. Edit: of course, the claim of exhaustion/"i don't have the spoons to care about events outside my horizon" can apply, but I'm not sure how much sympathy there would be for that should the kak hit the fan. I don't think the UK is too full of misanthropes, but they certainly seem to be louder these days.

It's true and I am, because it's also true that history tends to look rather dimly on those who looked by and said atrocities were unavoidable and therefore, rightly or wrongly, enabled them, as well as those who carried them out.

And thus we arrive at the paradox of tolerance that Popper so adriotly warned us all about. Tolerance of cultures extends only so far as feelings of cultural superiority, and, most importantly, acting upon them. If that wasn't clear before, let it be clear now. NB. Not sure how much standing there is about criticising someone's standpoint when ones own appears to allow for the most hideous acts because "human nature".

And, of course, segregation along demographic lines, the various caste and class systems, and the institutionalised acts of cruelty used to enforce them, were so very much better at creating a better world where so many less people suffered. .... right?

Yeah, very much strictly formula Saturday evening popcorn fare, not much of the charm of the original.

The Saffers looking for an equally convincing victory here. I would say they might be dark horses but you know their customary choke is in the post for the semifinal or final.

As was James Corey when he wrote The Expanse series. I have no disagreement whatsoever about the likelihood of human inequality continuing even if we reach out into space. The point is that if we don't, sooner rather than later something will happen that will make us all very, very equal. And, that requires attention and it requires long term resources, as abstract as the idea might be in comparison to the suffering shown to us every day through a variety of media.