Yes, we’re in his third term
Positive Waves
(Link) Since 2020, the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Observatory – commonly known as LIGO – has been sitting dormant while it underwent some exciting upgrades. These improvements will significantly boost the sensitivity of LIGO and should allow the facility to observe more-distant objects that produce smaller ripples in spacetime.
Soup…
Meme of the Day
Bullet Points:
** Fabrication
Vas ist das?
Vas ist das?
1. SdKfz.251/20 Uhu with IR searchlight and scope
2. Zeppelin Fliegende Panzerfaust
Well done! — But how you will handle tomorrow’s blog?
I sense a forthcoming disturbance in the blog.
Let me put it this way. YOU don’t want to miss tomorrow’s blog.
Maybe I’ll have to get up at 3AM, even though I’m done with work for the Summer?
IDK, it doesn’t really sound like me. Although… I could just stay up all night, instead.
-Kle.
Get stuck in a Chinese marriage there’s always Haitian divorce:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMgm5xoxOrw
Uh, yeah.
“Some babies grow in a peculiar way
It changed, it grew, and everybody knew, yeah
Semi-mojo
Who’s this kinky so-and-so?“
I’m not sure what would happen if a Chinese wife cuckolded her husband and then spawned a half-negro child, but it would be a terrible reckoning. At the very least she’d be completely ostracized.
It happened a lot in Vietnam. The children were often handed off to Catholic Charities.
About 100,000 Amerasian children were born during the war from relationships between Vietnamese women and American soldiers. A percentage of those children were half black. I don’t know what those numbers are/were.
Getting too close to TBCF truths? Forget Russia, how about another train derailment, this time with a bridge collapse. You know Petey will be right on it, with words of “this actually happens all the time”…but no until after he finishes Sunday brunch of broccoli quiche and mimosas.
No, it isn’t the weapon…only The Deranged Left blames the object not the object holder. Feelings over substance with that bunch of warped carbon-based life forms.
Perfect morning here in the Northern Rockies…time for a coffee stroll. Life is actually Good.
Let the world do what it does today. I’m with you.
Living well is the best revenge…has the added benefit of driving the self-loathers nuts.
I am humbled by where I live and the problems that I don’t see or contend with personally. I look out at the landscape and the peace it brings, I have a sermonette that is both profound and sublime. I don’t feel that way in the city.
My turn to say “I’m with you.”
Some will say, “You’re lucky”, but one makes their own “luck”…usually involving steady hard work and appreciation for the resulting blessings bestowed.
MRSLL mentioned something the other day and it had to do with having means when there are others with less (and others with more). I commented that if I cut leisure time out for myself, it is because I earned it through a lifetime of hard work.
I was on the phone this morning to Singapore (where I’ve decided to start a new company) and Greece. The clock becomes a factor as I’ve mentioned before. There’s a national election in Greece yesterday/today depending on how you figure it. Even on days off, there is work.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Exactly. That bit of “bliss” happens perfectly every once in a while, in it one can feel His presence.
Vas ist das?
1.) German-built SdKfz. 222 light armored car.
2.)Zeppelin Fliegende Panzerfaust.
The problem with the fabrication story about the Harvard researcher who studies dishonesty being accused of making up data is that it’s the tip of the iceberg. She’s going to draw the slings and arrows, but a lot of modern science is pushing some model, from climate change to “eat ze bugs” to you must take the jab. It’s BS all the way down.
William Briggs did a recent column on how all scientific journals have outlived their usefulness. He says, “The only people who have respect for peer review are those who have never experienced it.” He’s got a point.
https://www.wmbriggs.com/post/47329/
We live in an era of naked emperors.
It has come to the point where I no longer trust institutions, there is too much to be gained from serving the institution’s (of whatever ilk) agenda. Individual people are still sometimes worthy of trust but it must be earned.
The whole point of peer review was that they thought the reviewers would act like competitors, and take things down to brass tacks.
Instead, it devolved into a circle-jerk.
-Kle.
Maybe in some cases, but usually not (a circle jerk). I could talk for hours about peer reviews (and have, with colleagues and mentees) but I’ll try to keep it short here.
The major problem isn’t corruption nor even pushing The Message, it’s lack of competent reviewers who are willing to put in the time. We don’t get paid (other than in “prestige” — hah!) to serve as a peer reviewer. It takes hours to do a decent review, and could take days to do an outstanding review. Let’s say I spend 4h on a review. That’s time I could be seeing patients (back when I saw patients), reading echocardiograms or EKGs, or consulting for companies, in other words, doing something that brings in money. Or I could be sleeping, or spending the time with friends. Not a trivial concern when you’re already working 50-70h/wk.
A good review includes evaluating the experimental study design, understanding the relevance relative to other literature in the field*, the likely clinical importance of the paper under review, evaluation of the methods (was it smart, stupid, are there glaring faults, etc) and trying to get a handle on whether the results are valid, or even plausible**. Often you’re trying to do this on a manuscript where none of the authors is a native English speaker (I particularly HATE reviewing papers from the PRC) and you’re swimming upstream not only against Chinglish (or Indian whatever) and lousy presentation of data.
Then you write the review. Most have a bunch of questions you answer (on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, eg “quality of experimental design?”) and then a big free text section “To the Authors” where you lay out overall themes, then point by point questions, demands, and suggestions. Finally there is a supposedly confidential part where you write to the Editor-in-Chief your candid opinion of the relevance and likely impact/importance of the paper. All this takes time to do it right.
As a reviewer, you get to see the comments of the other reviewer(s) after you submit yours. Sometimes the other guy does a great review, where he caught things you didn’t, and you learn something not only from the specific points, but by how the reviewer laid out his arguments. That’s optimal, and maybe happens 10-30%, about a third of the time the other review is adequate, and the final third the other review is shit. I’ve seen one-line reviews that say (sic) “English need improvement in writing.” (Oh the irony.)
Why do the journals put up with shitty reviews? Simple. Not enough reviewers. These days I turn down way more requests to review than I accept. Also, there are more and more journals out there, all clamoring for free labor.
Why do reviews? First, you can learn stuff “hot off the presses” before it even hits the press. (You get sent stuff upon which you’re supposed to be a subject matter expert — at least in theory.) And that keeps you current, and it’s actually sorta fun. Second, it’s prestigious and is useful for academic advancement (in a relatively minor way — believe me, if you get a 10- year grant from the NIH at $800k + overhead per annum your institution won’t give a crap about who you review for).
Oh, is it the “you scratch my back” set up? Usually no. Some journals do blinded reviews where you don’t know the names or the institution of the paper. (But if you know the field you can usually figure it out — it’s a small world.) I also know of a guy who is nice and supportive to your face, but delights in utterly trashing your paper from his supposed anonymity as a reviewer because he has a terrible case of small man syndrome (plus dumpy man and bald man, but we won’t go there 😉). Conversely, a good friend was until recently the editor-in-chief of a highly regarded sub specialty journal. When we submit to that journal he of course recuses himself. A guest editor (a senior guy) is appointed to handle his paper. We get the most thorough and demanding reviews in that case, rather than the reviewers sucking up by giving us a pass. The guest EIC and the reviewers want to impress my friend by showing how diligent and smart they are. I learn a lot from those, but it’s sheer torture.
Oops. So much for keeping it short.
* reviews are in principle done by subject-matter experts who know the specific sub-field. That’s the real reason manuscripts are sent out for review. It’s not really about a confrontational or “rival” review.
** plausibility: I’ve reviewed raw data (consulting, not as a peer reviewer) where treatment A is intended to increase ejection fraction (EF, a global measure of pumping capacity). Across 30 patients getting A, all improved, between 3 to 5 points (55-70 is normal range) each; and the standard deviation was very small. That was purely impossible bullshit for many reasons. (Came out of a former Soviet republic FWIW…) But outright fraud is actually NOT that common. Spin is more common. And simple ignorance of statistics (leading to misinterpretation of results) is another big problem. As an example, the Swedish Disaster once reviewed a paper which purported to find that a history of melanoma was protective against cardiovascular death. That’s certainly a counterintuitive finding. Possible maybe, but weird. She thought about it all weekend and independently came up with the explanation. It’s a phenomenon known as “immortal time bias”. I was so proud of her. Also it’s kinda hot. Okay, maybe I have weird priorities; it’s not as if I was unaware of the model build and the big blue eyes and all that, but a girl who reasons out ITB on her own? That makes her a keeper. (Or not, as it happens, but that’s the way the surströmming crumbles.)
I can see that. The IT company I worked for in the Midwest mandated 15 minutes of prep time for peer reviews of code. For some odd reason programmers, who already had a day and a half of work and testing on their own each day, tended to scrimp on prep time. The standing joke at the start, when the note taker asked for prep time, was for everyone to say XYZ Company standard time. I caught one contractor(from the famous IT contracting nation) who must have spent more time making fake test results than in actual coding. At the review, the first thing I said was that I had copied the program into my own library and tried to compile it…and it didn’t. That ended that review.
I assume institutions, from ancient Egypt forward, have been constantly self-serving over time, and only my awareness of that has changed.
I loves me some Briggs.
He once told me that as a double Phd, the honorific he most cherishes is Sargent.
“Don’t call me “Sir”. I was a Sergeant, I worked for a living.”
If I could I’d like to share my devotional with you guys today…
Refuse to worry my cherished one.Displace those worried thoughts of trusting and thankful thoughts. Confirm your face in Me while praising me for all that I am and all that I have done. This combination of praise and trust is potent. It drives away anxiety and powers of darkness. Also it’s strengthens your relationship with Me. You may still have legitimate concerns to deal with, but I will help you with them. As you become more peaceful, you can look at your problems in the light of my presence and seek my counsel. Let’s scripture inform your thinking so that I can communicate with you more clearly. Take time to Thank Me for many good things in your life. I want you to express gratefulness in your prayers, in your conversations with others, and in your private thoughts. I read your thoughts continually, and I rejoice when they contain gratitude. You can thank me for things you wish were different. This act of Faith helps you break free from negative thinking. And everything give thanks; this is my will for you. Amen.
Psalm 31:14; Psalm 32:8;
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Thanks Gents. STA faithful
Thank you – amen
x2 – Much appreciated.
X3, pretty darned profound. Thank you.
Amen. There’s a reason I frequent here.
The abbreviated version I saw somewhere: No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.
Unscientific Survey: How many of you drink caffeinated drinks or energy drinks to help keep awake during church services? Or how many of you drift off to sleep during a service? That doesn’t apply to LSP, who likely doesn’t go to sleep mid-sermon. At least he didn’t when I attended his church service.
I have rested my eyes. When exhausted. Which is often.
I am sometimes called upon for references, and sit up front.
Coffee does not keep me awake, but drinking it does.
We drink coffee in church.
Maybe that is why churches always have coffee on hand, or certain churches anyway (a boring pastor).
Actually I have never had a Rockstar or “other”. Probably blow a gasket if I did…or be so wired I’d be dancing in the aisle and start speaking in tongues, or some such wizardry.
But actually, I’ve thought about this subject a lot, especially during my own tenure “on that side” of the pulpit. I was fearful of being boring or dismissed, so I worked not to be (I think, anyway).
Sleep for me? Only once in a while in regular Catholic Mass when growing up, especially the 2-hour ones for special occasions. The rote aspect got to me until I gained a better understanding that is not explained. That somewhat changed when I could go on my own and went to the early Mass, people were actually awake and wanted to be there. Then around 18 I went to a Full Gospel church (followed a girl who was from Missouri – yeah). That was the first time I heard expository preaching…those sermons woke me up to the depth of Scripture and its application to my own “path”. Zero nodding off. Besides, the church-goers energy kept me awake…you’d come out of church ready to take on the world.
Then my own discovery, mostly fostered in the backcountry where I “found” God’s presence. Thereafter regardless what church or preacher – even if boring – I’d pay attention…save for one…which more like a Bible Study on steroids and seemed like I was in school. Oy! Not that he was wrong, just that 50-60 minutes for a sermon is 25-35 minutes too much — make your point, reveal God in The Word and how that should relate to “your” life, then shut up.
Then the flip side: My time in the Pulpit…which using those life experiences I tried to remain relevant while expounding on the Gospel in my own fashion but always with a challenge. I was always awake even if I was tired (the let downs were often huge). One can only try their best, and only had one guy who constantly fell asleep on me, but that was for other reasons. Anyone who’d nod off I never took personally…people have lives and get tired at times, especially the older ranchers. So we (MrsPaulM was the music side) tried to keep it fresh.
Here’s the thing about your main point: If the preacher can not hold the congregations attention for 20-30 minutes, engage them in such a way they remain focused (obviously not possible for everyone 100% of the time), or the music is 30 minutes of “get you in the spirit” 7/11 songs that lulls the hearer into submission, maybe it’s time to find a new church. The caveat is not every pastor is a gifted speaker, some struggle to enlighten The Word, others just don’t have it. Lucky for me I had MrsPaulM who gave me pointers as I came into this untried…just did what God asked, using my own viewpoint (and a lot of study). And…it always comes down to humility coupled to gratitude – both from the Pulpit and the Pew.
Then there are those like LSP who have such a depth of understanding and a full toolbox to delve, anyone who is falling asleep has other problems.
LL, you are tempting me with another rabbit hole to go down with the gravitational observatory. Hanford is only an hour or so away, I wonder if they give tours.
Rocks. It has never really been about the weapon but about increasing control.
I agree with Paul M; a perfect morning. Sat on my back deck this morning drinking my pre-breakfast coffee just looking out at the countryside and being thankful.
My morning isn’t perfect but Banner, the dog, is nearly perfect. Lots of balcony time, after breakfast, with the door slightly ajar so he can come and go as desired. Me air conditioning the outdoors? Alas!
I gave up energy drinks a long time ago. Health-wise I was looking at what I was putting in my body and needless to say not good. I do have a cup of coffee before going to church (when I go) but I still find myself dosing off sometimes. I can remember my grandfather doing that with his arms crossed and my Grandmom nudging him awake. Haha. Usually it’s brunch after church with more coffee.
We’re on his fourth term. The first two were open, the third was the Revenge of the Deep State against Trump and now the fourth is the Biden muppet.
As to the ‘coup,’ I’ve been thinking about this. There never was a coup. This was an operation between Wagner and Putin to ferret out anti-Putin people in the government and military.
Stalin did it. Mao did it. Xi just did it a couple years ago, remember?
There never ever was a coup.
Agreed.
What you say about the Wagner Drama makes sense. (Now the world is a weird and stupid place, so making sense doesn’t mean it’s true 😀 but I’ll go with it.)
Hmmm. By Western (globohomo) standards Wagner are OF COURSE the good guys. Because as the Marine graffito says, “Wagner loves the cock.” That makes them stunning and brave. They need to be in elementary schools showing the little boys* (but not the girls*) just exactly HOW to express that loving.
* those “assigned” male, that is
PS, anyone keeping track of how many Rat World employees arrested for sex crimes against children?
Dunno on the RatWorld question, but the sheriff of Putnam County could probably answer. After all, he’s the one that said it wasn’t a child pornography / sex trafficking ring arrest without at least one Disney employee…
LL, I’m a little concerned. Are you somehow criticizing our Messiah God King Obama?