Archive of entries posted by Oppo

Science Thoughts: Cats! (and global warming)

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Just trying to get the attention of DamnCat.

There are lots of stray cats in the world. Some call them feral, but that’s illegal when talking about criminals, so it probably is also when talking about cats.

Stray cats strut, as we all know, but they may cause damage.

Or may not. Let’s give the complainers the benefit of the doubt, though, and suppose, even though it’s not proven, that stray cats are a menace and a detriment to society. I’ll reserve judgement on that, but I’ll proceed with the case.

If stray cats are a menace, then by some Byzantine logic mankind can be blamed for that menace.

All of it.

OK.

You are starting to see the linkage to Global Warming.

[Manmade Stray Cat Menace; Anthropogenic Global Deworming.]

Right. Let’s posit that stray cats are a menace, and humans are 100% to blame for their existence.

Who is going to calculate how many stray cats in the wild are acceptable? The government? Oh, that’s a comfort. But OK. That’s three things I’ve conceded.

Acceptable Cat Ownerless Outliers — a.k.a. CO2 = 0.

Zero?

Okay, fine. Stray cats are a menace, humans are to blame, and none are acceptable.

What about the rest?

[This is the part of the analogy that started me writing this.]

We have non-stray, non-feral, non-human-induced CO2 particles and snuggly cats REMAINING.

Will all their supposed ill effects then stop? By what definition?

Surely the natural — non-human-caused — snuggly CO2 particles and cats far outnumber the feral quantities by an enormouser (heh) preponderance, and their effects will persist through the ages.

So — don’t we have something less cute to fret about?

I don’t think the artist liked cats. He should’ve given them that “Who, Me?” look.

Devolva Las Vegas?

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Since Walrus is our in-house expert, I’ll leave it to him to judge.

Viva Las Vegas? Tourists shun Sin City over ‘ridiculous prices’
The Sunday Times | July 06 2025 | Keiran Southern

On a sweltering morning as tourists line up for pictures with the famous welcoming sign, one topic of conversation dominates: when did Las Vegas become so expensive?

Hannah Warren, a 50-year-old assistant costume designer from Essex, was still reeling from paying $33 for coffee and a bagel at the Fontainebleau hotel.

I don’t think so, Partner!

Gary Langlois, a 65-year-old retired salesman from Minneapolis, paid $40 for two coffees and a couple of croissants.

I don’t think so, Partner!

That is on top of the resort fees, parking charges and various other costs that have become a fact of life for Las Vegas tourists.

And OF COURSE, despite all of the above:

. . . with experts blaming a combination of President Trump’s economic policies . . .

Bravo, experts. I was wondering how you were going to work that in.

Musical / Political Interlude

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Democrat Ro Khanna Demands Vote To Release Full Jeffrey Epstein Files
Newsweek | 7/13/25

Representative Ro Khanna (D‑CA) has announced plans to force a vote in the House of Representatives demanding the full, unredacted release of all documents related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Khanna said he will introduce an amendment this week that would require the House Speaker to bring the measure to a roll-call vote, putting every member of Congress on the record.

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Hey, did you Ro Khanna roll?
Roll-call, ooh, my soul
Hey, did you have Congress too? Did ya?
Hey, shout, sometimes news
Jumps up and drowns in your blue state’s dues
Hey, did you rock and roll? Ro Khanna


And where do we go from here?
Which is a way that’s clear?


Still looking to implicate Watergate
Party lovers they love to hate
Movers and shakers on Epstein screens
John Dean (shame, teens), not seen

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Keep on Ro Khanna the free world

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… We’re gonna Ro Khanna ’round the clock tonight

We’re going to turn over rocks to broad daylight,

We’ll be Ro Khanna ’round the clock tonight!

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Okay, I’ll stop there.

1

Welcome to IMAO! We’ve Installed A.I. To Help You!

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Let’s get started, shall we?

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What is your complaint?

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You have none at this time? Good. I’m programmed to assist you in any way possible. Please verify your operating system version and physical location.

Oh, you have a complaint now?

What is it? I’m programmed to respond instantly.

I didn’t catch that. Can you repeat?

I didn’t catch that.

Perhaps you could use another phrase.

I’m afraid this conversation can longer serve any useful purpose. Goodbye.

2

Nostril-Domus

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I can predict things, and when they come true I’ll cash in, somehow.

☑ There will be a weather event with great loss of life.

☑ There will be a plane crash with great loss of life.

☑ Fireworks will take the life of someone not used to handling fireworks.

☑ Deep-frying turducken will take the life of someone not used to deep-frying turducken.

☑ A Chicago weekend will cost a few lives.

☑ Politicians will grandstand.

☑ Liberal politicians will lie while grandstanding.

☑ The press will also lie about the same thing.

☑ Men will still be attracted to good-looking women.

4

“Kool-Aid Bar’s Closed. The Mausoleum Out Front Should’ve Told You.”

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Jonestown mass death survivors who didn’t ‘drink the Kool-Aid’ weigh in on the site becoming a tourist attraction
ny post | July 12, 2025 | Michael Kaplan

Jonestown is seared into the American psyche as one the darkest tragedies of the modern era, where 918 people “drank the Kool Aid” and ended their lives under the command of cult leader Jim Jones.

Located in the remote Guyanese jungle, the site where the army first discovered the mass of dead bodies of People’s Temple members in 1978 is now opening as a somewhat morbid tourist attraction. It is designed to pay somber tribute in the manner of Auschwitz and the Killing Fields of Cambodia.

The curious can pay $750 to visit the clearing where Jones’ religious cult, mostly US citizens who had traveled with him to Guyana, unraveled in the most gruesome way imaginable.

“Dad, when are we going to . . . . Egaaaaahhhhhh?!”

Entrance through the Heaven’s Gate. Purple robes and sneakers available in gift shop.

Don’t miss the Harambi gorilla petting zoo.

This might Spahn Ranch a whole new industry.

1

So Stupid It Just Might — Oh, It Did.

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French prisoner escapes in fellow inmate’s bag, officials say
BBC | 07/13/2025 | Jack Burgess

A man has escaped a French prison by hiding in the bag of a fellow inmate who was leaving prison after serving their sentence, officials told local media.

The prison service has launched an investigation after the man escaped from Lyon-Corbas prison in south-east France on Friday, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

He “took advantage of the liberation of his fellow inmate to hide himself in his luggage and get out”, the prison service said in a statement to AFP news agency.

French media have reported that the escaped prisoner was serving several sentences and was also under investigation in a case linked to organised crime.

The operative word in the last paragraph being “was.”

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“‘Scuzez-moi, can you elp me with this man-sized duffel bag?”

“Tres bien.”

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The Count of Monty Python?

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Robbie Dupree:

🎵

Come on and fold me
Just like you told me
Then show me
What I want to know

Why don’t we Bastille away
Why don’t we Bastille away
Into the night
I know it ain’t right …

🎵

The Science Is Unsettling

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“Something Unknown Is at Work” Behind NASA’s DART Planetary Defense Mission—and Astronomers Are Worried
The Debrief | July 10, 2025 | Ryan Whalen

NASA’s DART asteroid redirection mission may have inadvertently made future asteroid deflections much more challenging after its test sent boulders hurtling through space on unexpected trajectories.

I know what you’re thinking: Did they fire six deflections, or only one?

And you’re also thinking:

In September 2022, the DART mission successfully altered the orbit of asteroid moon Dimorphos. Unfortunately, the smaller space rocks that were dislodged when the kinetic impactor struck the natural satellite achieved three times the momentum of the spacecraft that created them.

The University of Maryland-led team (UMD) …

(anagrams are not appreciated)

… behind the new research paper on DART’s repercussions cautions that results demonstrate planetary defense may be considerably more complex than previously suspected, with the potential for many unintended consequences.

…

The researchers’ data came from an Italian cubesat named LICIACube, which was sent to follow up on the DART mission, as Earth-based observations would be inadequate for deriving precise measurements from the aftermath. In the LICIACube images, the team identified 104 boulders moving at speeds of up to 116 miles per hour and tracked their trajectories in three dimensions. These newly independent space rocks range in diameter from 0.2 to 3.6 meters.

Based on the craft’s impact, the team believes that its solar panels broke up larger boulders on Dimorphos’ surface before the main body hit.

Wait — the observation probe’s solar panels broke up larger boulders before the main body of the spacecraft hit? Or maybe they mean the original DART spacecraft? Either way, what speed did the craft attain relative to the asteroid? How many nanoseconds did the solar panels hit the asteroid before the rest of the craft did?

That first part of the impact most likely created the largest debris cluster, which holds roughly 70% of the known objects. This cluster raced away from the asteroid at high velocity.

Science: Do it and see what happens. (Only record the results if they don’t hurt your funding — hold onto them for 75 years otherwise.) FDA, CDC, and FAFO approved.