Saturday, February 15, 2025

Out Front


 

29 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Energy Department scrambles to get back nuclear bomb specialists it dismissed

      Bloomberg: The Energy Department is seeking to bring back nuclear energy specialists after abruptly telling hundreds of workers that their jobs were eliminated, according to two people familiar with the matter.

      The employees, responsible for designing and maintaining the nation’s cache of nuclear weapons at the National Nuclear Safety Administration, were part of a larger wave of workers dismissed from the Energy Department, drawing alarm from national security experts. Between 300 and 400 NNSA workers were terminated, according to a person familiar with the matter.

      The agency’s quick reversal was announced Friday in an all-staff meeting. The NNSA is seeking to recall the workers because they deal with sensitive national security secrets, according to the people, who weren’t authorized to talk about the matter, which is not public. -- nordy

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  2. Lots of notes on the last thread.

    Since I took the photo out front we've added another 6" of snow to the porch roof. And we have another 12-15" arriving Sunday.

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    1. We got a dusting overnight Thursday into Friday. As usual, everybody panicked. -- nordy

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    1. {listener}

      He has both malignant narcissism and dementia.

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    2. Don't forget attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
      ----Alan

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    3. Yet there are people with each of these personality issues who do not harm others. I read somewhere that Mahatma Gandhi was considered a malignant narcissist. But add to that Sociopathic qualities and toss in ADHD and dementia and it's a real cesspool.

      Signs Someone Is a Malignant Narcissist

      Signs and symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder (and the severity of these symptoms) vary. But the following are common characteristics of malignant narcissists:

      Preoccupied with fantasies about beauty, brilliance, success, and power
      Unable to handle criticism
      Tendency to lash out if they feel slighted
      Likely to take advantage of others to get what they want
      Overly concerned about their appearance
      Expect to be treated as superior and craves this validation, also known as narcissistic supply
      Lack of empathy for others
      Inflated sense of self and inability to self-regulate
      Have no remorse for hurting others and no interest in apologizing unless it benefits them
      Have an attitude of deserving the best of everything
      Tendency to monopolize conversations and/or mistreat those who they perceive as inferior
      Hidden insecurity and a weak sense of self
      Tendency to blame others for their own bad behavior

      Additional signs of malignant narcissism can include:

      Seeing the world in black-and-white terms, including seeing others as either friend or foe
      Seeking to win at all costs, leaving a great amount of pain, frustration, and even heartache in their wake
      Not caring about the pain they cause others—or maybe even enjoying it and experiencing it as empowering
      Doing what it takes to protect themselves from loss, inconvenience, or failing to get what they want in any situation

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    4. ^ from the VeryWell Mind website

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    5. It is my understanding that Gandhi was extremely moralistic and dictatorial, particularly within his own family; but he unquestionably did considerable good. When he visited the UK, he went to one or more cotton mills and explained to the the workers there that his followers' boycott was not aimed at them, and he regretted the harm it did them; but it was necessary to escape from the industrial magnates who ground down Indian and English workers both. He was applauded--- cheered, even. Hmmmm...... that reminds me of many US citizens' reaction to actions taken by Canadian and other governments in response to Trump's hare-brained import duties. Pardon my gratuitous insult to hares.
      ------Alan

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  4. {listener}

    The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: A personal memory
    by Maren Tirabassi

    The Kennedy Center was two years old,
    and I was that Narnia age
    that is just finishing college,
    so both of us were toddlers.

    I took a Greyhound Bus from Des Moines
    to Washington, DC,
    and lived in the YWCA,
    near my job as a room clerk
    at the Statler Hilton,
    two blocks from the White House.

    It was the summer of Watergate hearings
    when the country was watching
    how government can betray
    all the trust of all the people.

    On my days off, I would stand in line
    for the hearings and listen, amazed.

    On my most precious nights
    there were tickets to the ballet
    at the Kennedy Center,
    a different amazement

    at beauty that could not be destroyed
    by corruption

    until perhaps now.

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    1. Beautiful. Thanks for posting that here, Listener.

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  5. Rather breathless reporting, but certainly amusing! [Click]
    Canada SHOCKS US by Joining EU to Retaliate Against LATEST Tariff—SMACKDOWN & Crash US Auto Industry

    Europe Chooses Canada, Ditching the US—A Devastating Blow to American Gas Exports: Trump GOES PSYCHO! Canada is disrupting the global LNG market, pulling Europe away from U.S. gas exports! As the EU shifts to Canada for cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable LNG, American suppliers face a major threat. With LNG Canada ramping up production and energy security at the forefront, the U.S. risks losing billions in exports while Canada strengthens its global position.


    —Alan

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    1. I don't always remember to turn down my sound before I click on posts here, so it's always helpful to know if its a video. I try to be respectful of Wil being in the same space. He is sometimes on a work call or reading something, etc..

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    2. Sorry about that.
      -----Alan

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  6. I was watching a BBC interview withMark Carney, allegedly front runner for leadership of the Canadian Liberal Party. [Click] the man seems never to have taken (or at least profited from) a public speaking course; his two favorite words seem to be “uh” and “um,” which typically means that he can’t even think one sentence in advance. Most irritating to me— not that I have anything to say in the matter.
    ——Alan

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    1. Canadians I know are concerned that the next admin there will be more conservative than Trudeau's.

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    1. So now they're going to gut and rewrite history...and take any documents that might be, er, useful.

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    2. The outgoing crew should bug the place with audio and video everywhere.

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    3. Maybe take copies of classified documents and place them into a time capsule!

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    4. I imagine taking copies of classified documents for any reason is illegal.

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    5. That is "interesting." If the countersuit has not yet been filed, it should be on Monday. I am reminded that it has never been proven how the Reichstag fire started---- not enough evidence.
      -----Alan

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  8. Replies
    1. Mr. Weatherman [click], a YouTube channel that covers the Caribbean, has been covering the unusually large number of earthquakes there over the past few days.

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  9. Trump Official Destroying USAID Secretly Met With Christian Nationalists Abroad in Defiance of U.S. Policy

    ProPublica: Now one of the most powerful people in the U.S. government, Peter Marocco's turbulent tenure during the first Trump administration sheds light on his current efforts to dismantle the American foreign aid system from the inside out.
    On a 2018 visit to the Balkans, Marocco secretly met with officials whom the American government had determined were off-limits without the highest levels of approval: ethnonationalist Bosnian Serb separatist leaders. Those politicians had been working for years to defy their nation’s constitution and undermine the American-backed peace deal in an effort to promote a Christian Bosnian Serb state. -- nordy

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