speak easy
speak easy's JournalCod wars: Royal Navy to guard UK fishing waters from Jan. 1.
Thatcher had the Falklands; BoJo has fish heads.
Four navy ships to help protect fishing waters in case of no-deal Brexit
Four Royal Navy patrol ships will be ready from 1 January to help the UK protect its fishing waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit, in a deployment evoking memories of the “cod wars” in the 1970s.
The 80-metre-long armed vessels would have the power to halt, inspect and impound all EU fishing boats operating within the UK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which can extend 200 miles from shore.
Naval sources said the deployment had been long planned, but it comes after Conservative ministers quietly doubled the total fleet of patrol ships from four to eight, partly in case of a crisis caused by a no-deal Brexit. “We have done a lot of work to ensure we are ready for every eventuality,” one insider said.
Although the offshore patrol ships carry machine guns, they would not be expected to use weapons against EU fishing boats. Instead they would aim to run alongside a vessel believed to be breaking the rules, boarding it for inspection if deemed necessary.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/11/four-navy-ships-to-help-protect-uk-waters-in-case-of-no-deal-brexit
Protest huh?
When low-rent Sturmabteilung take to the streets, demanding an end to Democracy, Europeans know better than to call it a protest.
Boys will be boys. The SA will be the SA.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214703106
Multiple people stabbed after thousands gather for pro-Trump demonstrations in Washington
Thousands of maskless rallygoers who refuse to accept the results of the election turned downtown Washington into a falsehood-filled spectacle Saturday, two days before the electoral college will make the president’s loss official.
... at night, the scene became violent. At least four people were stabbed after repeated brawls near 11th and F streets NW between the Proud Boys, a male-chauvinist organization with ties to white nationalism, and counterprotesters.
The victims were hospitalized and suffered possibly life-threatening injuries, D.C. fire spokesman Doug Buchanan said. It was not immediately clear with which groups the attackers or the injured might have been affiliated.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trump-dc-rally-maga/2020/12/11/8b5af818-3bdb-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html?%20va._1
Remembering the Biggest Loser: Martha McSally
Martha, they were just not that into you. Actually, they hated your lily-livered guts.
Martha McSally’s Humiliation, and the Republican Party’s
If the degradation of the Republican Party were cast as a morality tale, the lead character might be Senator Martha McSally of Arizona. To say that McSally was once impressive undersells her biography. To say she is now humiliated undersells her shame.
In the highly likely event that McSally is defeated tomorrow by her Democratic opponent, former astronaut Mark Kelly, her electoral defeat will be an anticlimax. McSally had been sinking since the toxic dawn of Donald Trump’s presidency, but she hit bottom last week when she publicly debased herself before a man who could never equal her own service and accomplishments.
...McSally has spoken publicly of being sexually abused by a high school coach. Her lawsuit in Saudi Arabia specifically objected to women being subservient to men. Yet with her political career on the line, she proved no different than most of her fellow Republicans in her willingness to accept personal and public humiliation from the president of the United States.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-11-02/arizona-s-mcsally-has-already-lost-by-accepting-trump-humiliation
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Trump can make Congress sit though the holidays .
Congress to send defense bill to Trump with veto-proof majoritiesThe Senate passed a $741 billion defense authorization bill on Friday, sending it to President Trump with veto-proof majorities in both chambers of Congress and effectively daring him to make good on his threat to scuttle the legislation.
... Trump has not sounded off about his pledged veto since the House passed the defense bill on Tuesday, by a vote of 335 to 78, a veto-proof majority. But should he still elect to veto the bill, he could complicate lawmakers’ efforts to complete the legislation, which has been signed into law for each of the last 59 years, before it expires at the end of the congressional session on Jan. 3.
The president has 10 days, excluding Sundays, to consider whether he will sign the legislation — a clock that starts once the White House receives paperwork from Congress. In that time, he may choose to sign it into law, reject it with a veto, or simply let it fizzle. If Congress is still in session at the end of the 10 days, it automatically becomes law; if Congress has adjourned, it doesn’t, and the legislation is defunct.
That means, unless Trump signs the bill into law swiftly, Congress could be forced to stay in session through Christmas, when lawmakers are usually out of town.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/senate-vote-defense-bill-trump/2020/12/11/c21e4160-3bbe-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html
Rick Wilson on death threats: "Is this really the country you want to live in"?
Excerpted from Rick Wison/Tara Setmayer,
LPTV: The Breakdown — December 10, 2020
https://bit.ly/3a1IqHz
Rick chokes up at 0:40. He's a hard man but - I have heard him getting emotional more than once.
Hey GOP senators, gonna block all Biden's nominations?
No problem
Rollover (acting) Beethoven.
DeSantis to host holiday party at governor's mansion
Source: Orlando Sentinel
DeSantis to host holiday party at governor’s mansion, and Democrats accuse him of ignoring COVID-19 warnings
Gov. Ron DeSantis is hosting a holiday party at the governor’s mansion for state legislators, despite objections from Democrats that it will send the wrong message to Floridians as the pandemic worsens.
DeSantis has invited 160 state legislators and their guests to a holiday reception Monday night, despite warnings from health experts that Americans avoid large holiday gatherings.
“At the very worst time for our country, he is hosting parties at the mansion with no masks,” state Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, said during a news conference Thursday.
Read more: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/fl-ne-maskless-desantis-party-20201211-vals6dpmsbb5vl6nqichg7cb2y-story.html
I love Apple. It's time to break them up.
I bought a 128K Mac in 1984. It was a glimpse of the future and cost me $1,999 on special. Steve Jobs had wanted to deliver a 512K mac for $1,499 but was overruled by management. The computer for the rest of us never happened, but even the crippled, overpriced 128K Mac was pretty impressive. Put one of todays kids in front of it, with the keyboard and mouse, and they will know how to use it. i
When Steve Jobs returned in 1997, Apple was on it's last legs. What Steve brought with him was the best graphical UNIX on the planet - NeXTStep - the very same OS that brought us the World Wide Web. Ten years later Job's made his dent in the univserse with the iPhone and our lives were changed forever.
One thing that has not changed since 1984 is the haters: How can Apple charge so much for their rediculous 'shite'. The anwer is the same as 1984 - Apple owns both the hardware and OS. You can't buy one without the other - There is no question that Apple's OS was superior in the 1980s and still is today. Ask a PC guy or gal and they will say, Windows runs on more (and better and cheaper) hardware, with many more apps. But they can not say Windows is better than UNIX (nor Linux for that matter). It is not and never has been.
The same is true of iOS - a subset of UNIX. Android is a Java machine. It is inferior, technically, in every way.
So why break up Apple? There is no reason why a new Mac or iPhone should be designed to sell on more Apple services and software. It's a scam. There is also no reason why there should be only one accredited App Store. Even if the Services/Sofware/Store Co. does not license the OS to ot 3rd parties, having licensed App Stores competing against each other will only benefit the consumer. Want an alternative to Apple Music. Good. MacOs and iOS won't be pushing Apples music services from Day 1,
Split Apple into two: Hardare (with OS) and Software/Services. Why and I saying this now? Because Apple Hardware can finally stand on it's own two feet. The iOS 'A' series processors, and Mac "M" series CPUs, outperform the competion. It is no longer necessry to cross subsidize them with software.
Split Apple into two.
Why am I picking on Apple? I'm not. Trust-bust all the whole damn lot of 'em.
Elizabeth Warren was right.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214686511
Australian Covid vaccine trial blows up: Participants test positive for HIV.
A trial of the University of Queensland Covid vaccine was abandoned when all the participants tested positive for HIV (antibodies).
How could such a thing happen?
There are essentially two types of vacinnes. One class, the earliest, injects massive amounts of nuetralized (dead) copies of the virus (or bacterium) to illicit an immune response. The second class use only a segment, and gets that into cells in the body. The methods differ - some put the segments into chimp viruses for example. The Pfizer/Moderna vaccines use a sticky lipid coat get messenger RNA into muscles cells.
The University of Queensland vaccine bolted the Covid spike protein into cells using a "molecular clamp" - genetic glue if you like, and their researchers found that the best 'glue' came from HIV. So there were bits of HIV in the vaccine and, hold the press, participants tested HIV positive after being innoculated.
Leaving aside the science, these guys must have had a screw loose. How do you persuade the public to take a vaccine that has been made using HIV? A feast of feasts for conspiracy theorists everywhere.
Australia terminates University of Queensland vaccine deal with CSL after false positives for HIV
The Australian government has terminated its agreement with Australian biotech company CSL Limited to supply 51m doses of a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland, after vaccine trial participants returned false positive test results for HIV.
Australia had hoped the protein vaccine would be available by mid-2021. Phase one clinical trials in humans began in July in Brisbane, with phase two and three clinical trials due to commence in December. It is one of four vaccines secured by the Australian government.
But on Friday the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, said: “University of Queensland vaccine will not be able to proceed based on the scientific advice, and that will no longer feature as part of Australia’s vaccine plan.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/11/australia-terminates-university-of-queensland-vaccine-deal-with-csl-after-false-positives-for-hiv
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