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Give and take

Science giveth, and science taketh away.

Kepler finds a ancient twin of the solar system, and gives us η = 0.1 [0], but (maybe) gamma-ray bursts sweep most galaxies clean of advanced life [1]. Also explaining the Fermi Paradox [2].

On the same /. page, no less.

[0] Which coincidentally is what we used to assume as a reasonable guess.

[1] as we know it, Jim. Extra-terrestrial life-wise, we’re in the business of looking for our keys under the streetlight. Because we have no way of knowing what any other sort of life would look like.

[2] Where is everyone?

POTD 25 Jan 2015

hahamonga dogs

POTD 24 Jan 2015

power tower fog

POTD 23 Jan 2015

the view from my backyard

One Friedman unit

I give it six months. If the cartels are using drones to fly drugs over the fence before Amazon Prime gets drone delivery figured out, it won’t be more than six months before ISIS is using drones.

Yes, we started this fire.

Of what use?

If they’re to be believed (which they’re not), the NSA knew about the Sony hacks before they occurred.

So why not a word to the wise? I understand sources. Methods. But if you’re willing to go to cyberwar over something like this, maybe your intelligence services should try to prevent cyber attacks.

In either case, again, the NSA proves its uselessness. It either didn’t know and is just lying, or it did and is utterly useless.

Same logic as the Paris attacks. Are they more incompetent for knowing and being ineffectual, or just being ineffectual?

It’s not cost-free. This all comes at the cost of the Constitution. And anything the NSA can do now, China will be able to do next year, and your friendly Russian hackers about six months after that.

Oh, by the way, the DEA has been illegally listening in to every international phone call from 1998-2013. And passed this information on to everyone else (see “parallel construction”). So even if the NSA didn’t have a rubber stamp from the FISA court, they could just ask their buddies at the DEA to give them the information. Supposedly it’s stopped. Pull the other one.

Of course no one will ever be held accountable or go to jail. And in terms the DEA being just as useless as the NSA, there’s always this.

And it’s MLK day. We have holiday for the man that the FBI illegally spied upon and tried to get to commit suicide. If you think similar things are not happening right now, you’re not paying attention.

Unaccountable

This headline says that the executive branch approved of the hacking of the legislative branch computers, but what the report really says is that the CIA informed the White House after the fact.

Effectively, the CIA has no oversight. They hack into legislative branch computers. They destroy evidence. They perjure themselves under oath. They do what they want with no concern about the executive approval pre- or post-. They simply inform.

At best they inform. All evidence suggests that in most cases they don’t inform. Not just the CIA/NSA, but also CBP. Unaccountable.

Je suis NSA

Actual terrorists in Paris and Belgium. Lots of them. Going back and forth between ISIS, Syria, and our allies. And the NSA has zero clue.

So what is the NSA there for? It is completely incompetent at its actual mission. All it’s good for is obviating the fourth amendment.

Burn it. Raze it. Salt the earth.

Ires 10 January 2015

Iris

R.I.P. Sweet Ires, 10 Jan 2015

A lab when you threw the ball, a pit if you got testy, and always game, even when she couldn’t make the jumps anymore. Besties with friends old and new.

Ires Milo Alex

She loved the beach, the mountains, the dog park, and riling everyone else up. Ires always went for it. Sometimes she didn’t make it and took the fall, shook herself off, and tried again, long nails scrabbling.

Every time we went climbing, she was an inspiration to me to be more like Ires.

$65k Lexus every year? No problemo, mate.

The amazing thing is: none of his colleagues were suspicious of anything until the cop drove to the station house in a Ferrari.

Seriously. He made enough money being a corrupt cop in the pay of organized crime to be able to afford to drive a quarter-million dollar red supercar, but none of his colleagues detected anything amiss until he was stupid enough to rub their noses in it. Hmmm.

Lesson: Keep it down to a current year model Lexus and you’ll be able to be a policeman and keep your organized crime connections on the DL.

Lesson: don’t piss off the wrong people

Wow. I wonder who Petraeus pissed off, and how? It can’t just be his lack of OpSec. Is it really just puritanical? Lots of generals, and politicians, have affairs. I suppose the crime is to be stupid and get caught, but the punishment is usually just what he already got – sent to a high-paying civilian job. Unless your name is Newt Gingrich.

We can’t put torturers, perjurers, murderers, or Dick Cheney (but I repeat myself) on trial, much less in jail, but a former DCIA/USCENTCOM/ISAF/USFOR-A commander? He must have really done a number on someone high up. Be interesting to know what you have to do to go to jail in this country if you’re at that level.

Now the non-retiring (but should) senior Senator from CA says he’s suffered enough:

*Use this easy test to check whether you’re eligible to have your advocates employ this line of argument in the offices of the executive branch and the courts of public opinion:

If you passed classified information to your mistress, how many senators would appear on Sunday morning talk shows to talk about what a great person you are?

(a) Zero.

Stop. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $2,000,000 from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

(b) One.

Defense may be applicable in your case. Consult the editorial board of the Washington Post for further guidance.

(c) Two or more, at least one of which is from each major party.

Congratulations, you are a Genuine American Hero(tm), and as such outside the jurisdiction of federal criminal law. Please be sure to collect your Augusta National Golf Club membership and other complimentary gifts at the door.

POTD 9 Jan 2015

two wheels girl on bike

POTD 8 Jan 2015

wigs

POTD 7 Jan 2015

IMG_0528

POTD 6 Jan 2015

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