The solution to Dec. 30th Magic Square puzzle:
Each row, each column, and both diagonals have the same sum: 34
Friday, January 3, 2025
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Elected Traitor and Felon Stokes Hate & Division Using 'Immigrant' Lies In New Orleans Terror Attack
Capt. Bonespurs blows a gasket after Tesla truck blows up outside his hotel in Vegas
Donald Trump – aka Dotard, nee Captain Bonespurs- ended his New Year's Day going on a social media rampage after the horrendous attack in New Orleans in the early morning followed by a Tesla Cybertruck blowing up in front of his Las Vegas hotel. Together the events seem to have rattled him, the Tesla explosion a thousand times more than the New Orleans terror attack. I mean, the orange fungus was so rattled that he demanded the CIA become involved in domestic affairs. Does he even know what that means? Does he mean like the way the agency got involved with taking out JFK in November, 1963? Anyway, I will put my sympathies with the N.O. victims (see link to victims at end of post.)
Taking to his Truth Social account late in the evening, the first
ever president-elect felon pointed fingers in multiple directions and (true to
form) blamed everything going wrong in the country on Democrats and the
country's law enforcement apparatus.
This was after the explosion of the Tesla vehicle outside his Vegas hotel
was likely too close for comfort. It was
not about New Orleans or helping the victims there – which the lying fucker blamed
on the N.O. terrorist “invading from
Mexico”. (In fact Jabbar was a U.S.
citizen and even served in the Army.)
On Truth Social, he wrote, "Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World!
Of course it’s a laughing stock "all over the world" after millions of muddle-headed bumpkins and MAGA termites put you back into office. The world, frankly, can't believe a majority of 'Muricans were so stupid and gullible as to put this elderly orange maggot criminal back into the White House. As my brother-in -law Anthony asked: "What on God's green Earth are American voters smoking?"
Had to inform him they're imbibing Trump's lies (like him bringing down inflation) like crack.
The Orange traitor aging on:
“This is
what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually
nonexistent leadership. The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors
have not done their job. They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of
their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather
than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM
that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself."
And:
Trump Stokes Hate With False Insinuations About New Orleans Truck Attack Suspect
And:
by Maya Boddie | January 3, 2025 - 6:37am | permalink
Donald Trump was slammed over one of his latest social media rants claiming that the "world" is "laughing" at the United States after the New Orleans truck attack that occurred on New Year's Day, leaving at least 14 people dead.
"Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World!" Trump proclaimed. "This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership. The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job. They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself."
The president-elect added, "Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to our Country. The CIA must get involved, NOW, before it is too late. The USA is breaking down - A violent erosion of Safety, National Security, and Democracy is taking place all across our Nation. Only strength and powerful leadership will stop it. See you on January 20th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
And:
by Amanda Marcotte | January 4, 2025 - 6:29am | permalink
In the hours after a mass murderer killed 10 people in New Orleans with a combination car and gun attack only hours into the new year, there was much that was unknown about the killer, his motive(s) or potential co-conspirators. However, one thing was as certain as the sun rising in the east: Donald Trump would take to Truth Social to lie about it, pumping as much disinformation as possible into the discourse before the facts had a chance to percolate. Wednesday morning, at least an hour before the name of the suspect was even publicly released, Trump sure enough was lying about it on his social media website.
"When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true," he ranted. It did not turn out to be true.
And:
Liz Cheney Shuts Down Trump's 'Malicious Lies' With Blunt Jan. 6 Reminder
And:
by Thom Hartmann | January 1, 2025 - 7:19am | permalink
As we look at the upcoming year this New Year’s Eve, the most urgent question facing us is whether the assault Putin, Orbán, Trump, Musk, and Vance have planned for our political system in 2025 will succeed.
In 1926 Ernest Hemmingway published his novel The Sun Also Rises, which has this extraordinary bit of dialogue about how change happens in most aspects of life — and how governments rise and fall.
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.
”Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
”What brought it on?”
“Friends,” said Mike. “I had a lot of friends. False friends.”
For some unfathomable reason, Democrats insist on calling their Republican colleagues their “friends.” They are not friends.
With few exceptions, they are systematically destroying American democracy with the clear objective of replacing it with strongman authoritarianism, a new and American version of what Benito Mussolini called fascism.
by Alex Henderson | January 1, 2025 - 6:36am | permalink
President-elect Donald Trump's second term is less than a month away. And when he is inaugurated on January 20, 2025, Congress will have small Republican majorities in both of its chambers.
In an article published by The New Republic on the last day of 2024, journalist/author Liza Featherstone describes a New Year's resolution: closer bonding with friends and neighbors in case 2025 and the second Trump Administration bring civil unrest.
"Normally, just like everyone else, I just resolve to spend more time at the gym," Featherstone says of her New Year's resolutions. "But as the first Trump inauguration loomed, in early January 2017, my New Year's resolutions were higher stakes than usual. I knew that I would have to volunteer more of my time to local politics. I would also try to look after my own sanity: I would read more novels, spend less time online and more time outdoors. But, while I was concerned about bettering the world without losing my mind, I wondered even more how to prepare for the impending societal collapse I feared was coming."
The Plasma Physics of Radio Astronomy Redux - Part II
The previous entry assumed the presence of a low density plasma in which collisions are not important. In addition while a magnetic field intensity (B) was present it was not variable in the sense of being mechanically moved or displaced. In this post we consider a layer of a conducting medium with an applied magnetic field which is moved or displaced. No incident waves are considered but rather the effect of the motion of the medium in generating a disturbance or a wave. The waves produced by such motion are known as magnetohydrodynamic waves.
Consider a slab in a conducting fluid such as shown in the top diagram which is moved with a velocity v in the y -direction. The slab is taken to be infinite in extent in the + y direction. A steady magnetic field B o is applied in the z direction. Since v is in the y direction and B o is in the z-direction we have from the relation:
E = v x B
That an electric field E will be induced in the x -direction by the motion. (Refer to Part (1)) This field produces a current in the slab in the x direction which has its return paths through the medium above and below the slab. This current, in turn, produces forces which tend to impede the motion of the slab but which also imparts an acceleration to the fluid above and below the slab in the y direction. Hence, the original motion initiates motion of the fluid which propagates as a wave parallel to the magnetic field. The applicable equations become:
i) Ñ X H = J + ¶D / ¶ t
ii) Ñ XE = - ¶ B / ¶ t
iii) J = s ( E + v XB )
iv) B = m H
v) dv/ dt = G + 1/r (J x B - Ñ p)
Here: v = velocity of displacement (m/s)
J = current density (amp m-2 )
r = mass density (kg m-3 )
G = parameter involving non - EM forces (kg m-1 s-2 )
Equations (i) and (ii) are Maxwell's curl equations, while (iii) is a form of Ohm's law for plasma involving the current density. The equation (iv) is known as a constitutive relation describing the medium and (v) is a hydrodynamic equation with the dimensions of acceleration.
From the geometry, J y = J z so that:
E x = Jz/s - vy Bo
And: E y = E z = 0
Then from eqns. (ii) and (iv):
¶ E x / ¶ x = - m ¶ H y / ¶ t
Introducing the expression for E x into the above we get:
(vi) m ¶ H y / ¶ t = B o [¶ v y / ¶ z] - 1 / s [¶ J x / ¶ z ]
Neglecting G from equation (v) we obtain:
(vii) ¶ v y / ¶ t = - ( 1 / r) J z B o
We assume here that Ñ p (grad p) can have no component perpendicular to z. Now, let ¶D / ¶ t << J and introduce eqn. (i) into the preceding equation to obtain:
(viii) ¶ v y / ¶ t = B o / r ( ¶ H y / ¶ z)
Eliminating v y between eqns. (vi) and (viii) we obtain a wave equation:
¶ 2H y / ¶ t2 =
Bo 2/ m r ( ¶ H2y / ¶ z2 ) + 1/ ms ( ¶ H2 y /¶ t ¶ z2 )
Note that for very large conductivity, s , the last term can be neglected. The velocity of the wave is then given by the Alfven velocity:
v = B o / Ö(mr)
Where v is the velocity of the wave in m s-1
B o is the magnetic flux density in webers m-2
m is the permeability of the medium in henrys m-1
r is the density of the medium in kg m-3
Suggested Problems:
1) Evaluate the Alfven velocity for the solar photosphere given:
r = 2.0 x 10 -4 kg m-3
B o = 0.1 Webers m -2
And m = m o the magnetic permeability in vacuo
2) Re-evaluate to estimate r for the solar corona at about 1 solar radius above the photosphere, if v » 2.0 x 10 8 m s-1
The Unspoken Reasons For Physics Bachelor's Degrees Trending Downwards
The recent report (Physics Today, December, p. 26) that bachelor's degrees in physics have been trending downward, has been concerning to say the least. While the B.Sc. (or B.A.) in Physics are generally not recognized as the province of the academic researcher, they are important nonetheless given they often are the primary qualification for high school teachers, technical writers in physics-related businesses and in the industrial engineering sphere. But that may in fact be the core reason for fewer bachelor's grads.
As noted in a recent (December 31) NBC News segment a much larger number of young adults are opting to go into trade schools as opposed to saddling themselves with an average of$29,000 in debt and not much to show for it. Why lay out up to $25,000- 30,000 a year for a physics B.Sc. to teach high school physics at say $45,000/year when one can earn $60,000-75,000 as an HVAC mechanic or electrician?
A number of the young males interviewed for the piece, indeed, admitted they had been accepted to four-year universities but instead opted to get an education in one of the trades, ranging from HVAC mechanics (one of the most popular because the remuneration is so high) to welding, construction and plumbing. Their investment? About $6k a year compared to a 4-year state university that may require 4-5 times more.
They have also followed the fortunes - or misfortunes - of peers who did go the 4-year university route but ended up in debt and are still waiting to afford a first home or apartment - while the HVAC mechanics and plumbers already have theirs - as well as plush bank accounts.
What we do know from the Phys. Today report is that the number of U.S. bachelor’s degrees awarded in the broader physical sciences declined about 10% from 2018 to 2022, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. And about 30% of those degrees were in physics. According to Patrick Mulvey, research manager for the American Institute of Physics statistics group the reason for the decrease is not clear.
However, it is interesting that the span of affected years includes the inception of the Covid 19 pandemic - which also saw universities closing their doors to in situ classes in favor of Zooms and digital access. For many parents - and students - the notion of their sitting at home taking Zoom classes (and courses) while still shelling out thousands of bucks per year didn't sit well. No surprise then from the end of 2020 one beheld a collapse in support of the value of higher education in general. In addition, grades tended to collapse and many thousands left their studies and had only debt to show for it.
As long as ten years ago in a blog post that drew plenty of attention:
Brane Space: Four Year Colleges Aren't The Only (or Best) Solution for High School Grads!
I wrote:
"The
natural route now to craftsman status and good future work in the U.S., as
noted by Dick Hilker an op-ed piece in the Denver Post is the community college. Hilker quotes Rhonda
Bentz (the state system's media and government relations director) that :
"the Voc-Technical route is the educational system's best kept
secret. Students come for two year degrees and then get real jobs."
As Hilker goes on to note:
"In other words there are solid alternatives to spending big bucks at
Big State U. to major in Tibetan Culture or Music Appreciation before winding
up as a clerk at Mega-Mart."
So the trend toward trade school apprenticeships and schooling was germinating even ten years ago, but it took a pandemic to kick it into high gear. Meanwhile, Physics departments are scratching heads wondering where are all the incoming freshmen. Well, they're now finishing their trade educations and ready to make more money than their B.Sc. Physics grad peers.
Additional data on the recent decline in physics bachelor’s degrees awarded by department type and on the number of physics degrees awarded in the 2022–23 academic year by institution can be found in the report at:
https://ww2.aip.org/statistics/roster-of-physics-department-with-enrollment-and-degree-data-2023
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