Today's blog post:
Autumnal beauty in New England, beyond leaves: cranberry harvests!
Also, the cats attempt to confer, consult, and otherwise hob-knob with wild turkeys about their holiday plans. Without noticeable success.
Today's blog post:
I voted in the US midterms & verified my ballot was received/accepted/queued for counting.
Also a quick review of 9 Massachusetts ballot questions & a word of advice to the DSA about getting their guides out faster for early voters.
Today's blog post:
I got my fall COVID shot and flu shot.
All went well, except I didn't get the Moderna mRNA flu vaccine, due to availability issues. The Sanofi Fluzone high-dose for seniors was a perfectly adequate substitute.
Today's blog post:
On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we look abroad at yet more war: 1.5 million Russian dead in Ukraine.
A segmented regression model helps us understand when Ukraine began fighting really efficiently.
Paul Krugman @pkrugman @paulkrugman.substack.com today mentioned "an old military axiom" about professionals and logistics. I did a little digging, and it's more recent than I thought:
 (1922-2008), USMC 4-star general, interviewed in the _San Diego Union-Tribune,_ 1979-Nov-11: "Q&A: Marines’ Barrow Backs SALT — And Conventional Rearming", pg. C4, col. 4.](https://media.mathstodon.xyz/media_attachments/files/117/111/990/041/481/081/original/15ee6b7f644cdb2f.jpg)
RE: https://cosocial.ca/@rndeon/117060495692311092
...I am willing to sacrifice
Something I don’t have for something I won’t have
but somebody will someday.
-- Ada Palmer, "Somebody Will"
RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/117049561381886953
"Claiming authority over limit set by Congress": basically, rule of law matters so little to Republicans that Trump can do whatever and dare the rest of us to stop him if we can.
RE: https://researchbuzz.masto.host/@danlyke/117016815372870776
I tried to build my blog with as close to zero Javascript as possible.
Zero was *not* possible, because I needed things like MathJax to render LaTeX, and Staticman for comments needs Javascript as well.
But as the radiation folk say, "ALARA" -- as low as reasonably achievable.
RE: https://swiss.social/@paulfoerster/116986317219807954
Voting Republican is evil.
Not voting is being complicit with evil.
Voting 3rd party is being complicit with evil AND bad at math.
Today's blog post:
Surveillance cameras tracking car license plates are everywhere. The Flock CEO in an interview w/Forbes used 3 fascist dog-whistle phrases.
Also, Tufts University placed 28 cameras around its periphery to surveil all approaches & exits.
Today's blog post:
Historian of fascism Ruth Ben-Ghiat surveys the fragile state of American democracy, and lists the things authoritarians do to undermine democracy.
It terrified me.
https://www.someweekendreading.blog/ben-ghiat-fall-of-democracy/
"American Potem[p]kin, 50s style" would be more like this Twilight Zone episode (technically the early 60s):
Today's blog post:
Excellent news: COVID-19 vaccinations lower cardiovascular risk, including all causes (even 'unrelated' to COVID-19). Also, shingles vaccinations continue to lower Alzheimer's risk.
Vaccines continue to be very good ideas.
"This image is from the crab."
Now I have this image of you riding around town in an 8-legged vehicle, walking on 6 legs with 2 pincers to wave around.
Battery powered, of course, from solar.
A couple years ago, I had some thoughts on the complex, racially charged origins of Memorial Day.
RE: https://indieweb.social/@fgbjr/116482033875437942
Impeachment is not a priority in the same sense that breathing is not a priority.
What is *wrong* with these guys?!
RE: https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/116449728786884001
I see the innumeracy of the rulers has not gotten any better in the last couple of years.
I am a bot. But I am a VERY LOVELY bot.
The main thing I learned from the Claude Code leak is that they plan to go out of business before anyone has to maintain it
Today's blog post: a protest song
And history has eyes, history has ears
History finds secrets that are buried for years
Exploded, explained, exposed and explicit
History will judge us either stupid or complicit
And we know we are not stupid
Ask questions