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Thursday, January 08, 2026

The political and cultural climate that's arisen under the Trump administration has allowed research to be cut to the bone while expert wisdom is mocked and ignored. That's not good for science or tech.


If you've ever had to spell out words like W-A-L-K or T-R-E-A-T around a dog, you know that some dogs listen in to humans' chitchat and can pick out certain key words. Well, it turns out that some genius dogs can learn a brand new word, like the name of an unfamiliar toy, by just overhearing brief interactions between two people.


President Donald Trump's aides began to make their case on Thursday for a $400 million White House ballroom before a commission that oversees federal building construction and said they are considering adding a second story to part of the West Wing as well.


The U.S. Senate has advanced a war powers resolution limiting President Donald Trump's ability to conduct further strikes in Venezuela. Five Republicans voted with Democrats to advance the resolution, with Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Todd Young, R-Ind., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., crossing the aisle. The legislation would require Trump to gain approval from Congress before conducting any strikes on Venezuela.


Wednesday, January 07, 2026

Former Del. Mike Jones captures Senate District 15, while Charlie Schmidt wins Jones' vacated House seat in District 77. read more


Comments

@#3 ... Anyone else here see a problem? ...

[waving arms]

Pick me, pick me ...

Yeah, there is a significant problem here.

Most people who have cell-phones do not know it, but those phones are location beacons.

Stores Spy On Customers By Tracking Cell Phones (2013)
www.cbsnews.com

... Many stores are now tracking shoppers from the second they walk through the door.

This is not about preventing shoplifting but about knowing a shopper's habits. And to get this information stores are tapping into your cell phone's Wi-Fi.

"They can tell how long you were in the store and which departments you were at," explains Edgar Dworsky of Somerville-based ConsumerWorld.org. ...


Jefferson Airplan - Volunteers (1969)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
"Volunteers" by Paul Kanter and Marty Balin appears on the 1969 Jefferson Airplane album of the same name.

Jefferson Airplane broke from their psychedelic groove to make this anti-war anthem.

Kanter said he got the idea from a "Volunteers of America" bumper sticker that was pasted on the side of a garbage truck.

[Verse 1]
Look what's happening out in the streets
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Hey, I'm dancing down the street
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Ain't it amazing all the people I meet
Got a revolution, got to revolution

[Bridge]
One generation got old
One generation got sold
This generation got no destination to hold
Pick up the cry

[Verse 2]
Hey, now it's time for you and me
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Come on now, we're marching to the sea
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Who will take it from you, we will and who are we?

[Chorus]
We are volunteers of America
Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America
See rock shows near East Windsor
Get tickets as low as $45
You might also like
Won't Get Fooled Again
The Who
Battle Hymns
The Nightwatchman
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Gil Scott-Heron
[Post-Chorus]
I've got a revolution
Oh, got a revolution

[Verse 1]
Look what's happening out in the streets
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Hey, I'm dancing down the street
Got a revolution, got to revolution
Ain't it amazing all the people I meet
Got a revolution

[Chorus]
We are volunteers of America
Yeah, we're volunteers of America
We're volunteers of America
Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America
...


@#32

More ...

Behind the Barrel: An Update on the Origins of Israel's Fuel Supply (November 2025)
oilchange.org

... Behind the Barrel: An Update on the Origins of Israel's Fuel Supply, details the global fuel shipments that fuel Israel's genocide in Gaza.

The report tracks over 21 million tonnes of crude oil and refined fuels delivered to Israel between November 2023 and October 2025, including jet fuel used for military aircrafts.

The data shows that Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and the United States were among the largest suppliers of oil and refined products during this period.

While direct shipments from Brazil appeared to end in early 2024, evidence suggests that Brazilian crude may have continued reaching Israel indirectly via Italy's Sarroch refinery in Sardinia. ...


@#27,28

Found this ...

Crude Petroleum in Israel
oec.world

... In 2023, Israel imported $3.23B of Crude Petroleum, becoming the 37th largest importer of Crude Petroleum (out of 157) in the world. During the same year, Crude Petroleum were the 3rd most imported product (out of 1,198) in Israel. In 2023, Israel imported Crude Petroleum primarily from: Azerbaijan ($1.39B), Gabon ($680M), Nigeria ($552M), Kazakhstan ($340M), and Brazil ($139M).

The fastest growing origins for Crude Petroleum imports in Israel between 2022 and 2023 were: Gabon ($456M), and Nigeria ($338M). ...

In 2023, Israel exported $394M of Crude Petroleum, making it the 51st largest exporter of Crude Petroleum (out of 150) in the world. During the same year, Crude Petroleum were the 29th most exported product (out of 1,147) in Israel. In 2023, the main destinations of Israel's Crude Petroleum exports were: Chinese Taipei ($153M), Netherlands ($147M), Austria ($40.7M), Bulgaria ($24.6M), and Italy ($17.2M).

The fastest growing markets for Crude Petroleum exports from Israel between 2022 and 2023 were: Netherlands ($147M), Austria ($40.7M), and Italy ($17M). ...


@#25

Pres Trump's House mouthpiece said ...

Protesters decry Trump administration policies in No Kings rallies across the U.S. (October 2025)
www.npr.org

... House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, slammed the demonstration as a "hate America rally," and other Republicans have derided the movement as anti-American.

"It's all the pro-Hamas wing and, you know, the antifa people," Johnson said last week on Fox News. "They're all coming out." ...




Bongwater - You Don't Love Me Yet (1988)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
To be or not to be
That's the question unceasingly
But without you I would long to be yours to be

Cause without you I'm not a king

Cause without you it will never do
Cause I can't think what life would be like without you
...



More from the OpEd ...

... Back in 1980, science fiction and science author Isaac Asimov wrote, "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of antiintellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

He didn't know the half of it.

US President Donald J. Trump's regime has aggressively cut federal science and technology research funding since taking office last January. Recently, one of those cuts hit home for me. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has been closed, and while some of its materials will be stored, at least 85% will be thrown away.

It was at Goddard in the mid-1980s that I learned I had a gift for technology, and, better still, I could explain it to other people. Put simply, that's where my career as a tech journalist began. While there, I also got to know the engineers and scientists who'd pioneered space. This closure is a disgrace.

I mean, who closes down a research library? (It's not like they cost a lot of money, and libraries like this one contain a mountain of material that's never been digitized.) The answer: an administration that has no interest whatsoever in science, knowledge, wisdom, or expertise, that's who.

While personally painful to the people who used that library, there have been worse. NASA itself faces cuts, for example. As John Grunsfeld, an astrophysicist and astronaut who flew five shuttle missions, said: "America is stepping back from leadership in virtually every science area. ...

The proposal for the NASA science budget is ... cataclysmic for US leadership in science." ...


@#7 ... I'm uncertain I comprehend this agenda.. ...

Yeah, I'm in that same place.

i.e., what is really going on here?

I saw this ...

Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget sends military contractor shares higher
www.greenwichtime.com

... Shares of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon parent RTX fell after the criticism but then roared back at the prospect of more lucrative government contracts down the road. ...

[shrug]


Then there's this ...

Russia Harshly Condemns US Seizure of Oil Tanker, Warns of a Spike in Tensions
www.military.com

... Russia on Thursday strongly condemned the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker, heralding a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington that could spread to other areas and affect President Donald Trump's efforts to persuade Russia to end its nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

The seizure Wednesday of the Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic "can only lead to a further escalation of military and political tensions in the Euro-Atlantic region, as well as a visible lowering of the threshold for the use of force' against peaceful shipping," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. ...


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