Blog Betty (Thomas Friedman is a Great Man was an online novel): Science post on the sun

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Science post on the sun

First off, swiping this from C.I.'s snapshot (which will be in full at the end of my post):

That's Alicia Keys' "Brand New Me" (the live version from the live album VH1 STORYTELLERS). As Betty noted in "Alicia Keys" earlier this week, Alicia's latest album (ALICIA) drops tomorrow. It's her follow up to 2016's HERE. On Tuesday, community members noted their favorite Alicia songs: Betty went with "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart," Kat went with "In Common," Mike went with "Another Way To Die," Marcia went with "If I Ain't Got You," Elaine went with "Holy War," Ruth picked "A Woman's Worth," Rebecca chose "fallin'," Ann offered two choices "Girl On Fire and . . .," Stan selected "Queen of the Field" and Trina went with "Underdog." Betty picked my personal favorite but I do really love "Brand New Me." (Just realized no one chose "No One." I would've thought that would have been someone's pick.) So, tomorrow, new album from Alicia Keys.

I think it's already Friday on the east coast. Reminder: Alica Keys new album ALICIA out Friday (today if you're in the eastern time zone).

Can't wait to hear it.

Now for some science, Ashley Strickland (CNN) reports:

Every 11 years, the sun completes a solar cycle of calm and stormy activity and begins a new one.

It's important to understand the solar cycle because space weather caused by the sun -- eruptions like solar flares and coronal mass ejection events -- can impact the power grid, satellites, GPS, airlines, rockets and astronauts in space.

And we just got a bit more information about how the sun's activity could impact us.

The new solar cycle, Solar Cycle 25, officially began in December 2019, according to an announcement by the Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel of international experts on Tuesday. It can take as long as 10 months to calculate when the new cycle starts, since the sun is so variable, which is why it was announced Tuesday.

Jennifer Franciotti (WBAL) adds:

Young said over the next few years, we’ll see more and more sunspots and huge magnetic fields that release energy like solar storms.

“That stuff travels through the whole solar system, and sometimes the earth is in the way of all that stuff. And when it hits the earth, it creates electrical disturbances and that impacts our technology, our satellites, our ability to communicate -- sometimes it can even impact power grids here on earth,” Young said.

And that’s why predicting solar weather is so important. Technology issues could mean loss of internet or GPS. Severe storms could pose radiation dangers to astronauts on the International Space Station. That’s why NASA is working with scientists around the world and with researchers at NOAH, who also predict solar weather.

That's Diana Ross performing "Blame It On The Sun" from her classic FORCE BEHIND THE POWER album. I like WORKIN' OVERTIME but have always felt like if FORCE had been the return to MOTOWN album, she would have had a stronger return. I know there were high hopes for WORKIN', reteaming Diana with Nile Rogers after their excellent work on 1980's diana album (lowercase title). But "Upside Down," "I'm Coming Out," "Now That You're Gone," "Have Fun Again" and the other tracks didn't just happen with Diana and Nile. There was a third person: Bernard Edwards. He wasn't part of WORKIN'. Maybe if he was, the songs would be better?

The songs were frequently hideous. Catchy music, no question. But were there any stories in the songs, anything you could relate to? The title track was really as deep as it got. Diana invested a ton into the vocals on "This House" but there's not a lot to that song lyrically. In fact, lyrically, the bulk of the album could have been written by your average nine-year-old.

Bernard? He could have changed that. He reteamed with Diana for her R&B hit "Telephone" from 1984's SWEPT AWAY. "Telephone" tells a story. You can relate to it.

"Blame It On The Sun" is a great song (written by Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright). There were so many great songs on FORCE. It also had her classic ballad "If We Hold On Together" from the film THE LAND BEFORE TIME, the title track (written by Stevie), the beautiful ballad "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" and, among others, the upbeat "You're Gonna Love It."

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, September 17, 2020. Do #OTHERLIVESMATTER! or only the lives of Americans? Interesting question considering a new story in the news.

Starting in the US, Savannah Bermann (USA TODAY) reports:

Federal police asked the National Guard whether they had a “heat ray” officers could use against protesters gathered near the White House earlier this summer,according to a letter sent to Congress from a senior officer involved with responding to the protest.

The inquiry for these tools came just hours before demonstrators protesting on the evening of June 1, following the death of George Floyd, were forcibly removed from the Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. by authorities, some on horseback, using chemical irritants, rubber bullets and shields.

President Donald Trump then walked with members of his administration to historic St. John's Church, and posed with a Bible, drawing wide condemnation.

In written responses to the House Committee on Natural Resources, which were obtained and shared by NPR, D.C. National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco said he was copied on an email from the Provost Marshal of Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region who was seeking two things: A device called the Active Denial System, or ADS and a Long-Range Acoustic Device, also known as the LRAD.

ADS is a weapon designed by the military that uses short radio waves that "provides a sensation of intense heat on the surface of the skin,” according to the written statements. This causes an intense burning feeling, leading to the tool also being called a "heat ray" or the "Pain Ray."

Elliot Hannon (SLATE) adds:

“The technology, also called a ‘heat ray,’ was developed to disperse large crowds in the early 2000s but was shelved amid concerns about its effectiveness, safety and the ethics of using it on human beings,” the Washington Post reports. “Pentagon officials were reluctant to use the device in Iraq. In late 2018, the New York Times reported, the Trump administration had weighed using the device on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border—an idea shot down by Kirstjen Nielsen, then the Homeland Security secretary, citing humanitarian concerns.”

The technology should not be used. If you're a pompous drama queen prone to hiding behind what you did in Iraq, you might want to check yourself -- especially if you're screaming your head off in a video calling for people to be killed. Just sit your ass down, princess, you've got nothing to proud of if you're video and your Tweet is all about how this should never be used on Americans.

#OTHERLIVESMATTER. There were many reports in the early stages of the Iraq War of this very weapon being used in Iraq. So don't hide behind your "I was in Iraq and I wasn't in Iraq so these weapons could be used on Americans! You don't look brave, you look like a thug. Because really bad weapons were used on Iraqis. Depleted Uranium was used on the Iraqi people. It's why birth defects skyrocketed in the country.

There is no justification for that. And fourteen-year-old boys -- or twelve-year-olds who look fourteen -- are not terrorists and should not be hunted as if they were or not allowed to leave Falluja, kept there to be killed and executed by the US military.

That's what happened and I'm not in the mood for your sudden concern over weapons now that they might be used on Americans.

I'm also not interested in, Princess Vet, your use of this for partisan b.s. At this point, the issue appears to be it having been raised, the use of it having been raised. It does not appear to have been used.

It should not have been raised and there should be a loud rebuke -- but not threats of shooting people over this, Princess Vet, calm down -- so that the message is clear that we do not use this technology on humans (I'm not painting an X on the backs of all animals, I'm just focusing on humans). And that's here, that's in Iraq, that's anywhere.

We need to be very clear on this.

We also need a few details. That would include who was in on the discussion. Was the White House party to it? Was Donald Trump aware?

It's really easy to scream and yell into a video like a lunatic with the hopes that you're going to turn out the votes for Joe Biden. But that's not reality. And Joe's Barack's roll dog so some of this outrage on his behalf is a bit much -- Barack remains King of the Drone War. And he did use them on US citizens.

The notion of using weapons -- of any kind -- on peaceful protesters is disgusting.

And yet, Princess Vet, that has happened for almost a full year now in Iraq and you're so quick to manly man your service in Iraq but you're not very quick to defend the Iraqi people.

Oh, right, the illegal war was never about defending the Iraqi people or making their lives better.

Your hypocrisy and much more is showing.

What appears to be not in dispute at this time: Early in the Trump presidency, these weapons were tossed out for possible use on immigrants crossing the border and then-Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen shot down the idea. This summer, the use of the weapons were again raised. Judging by the written document submitted, they were not used. That needs further examination and Congress should pursue the matter in public hearings.

Efforts to attach this to a person without evidence is not a good idea. And it doesn't help the situation. No matter how much a man like Princess Vet screams in a selfie video, it doesn't help anyone.

We actually had an editorial on this ready to go at THIRD -- on Princess Vet -- and the ones who wrote it didn't know about the above. They just tried to stream his video and they noted in the editorial (we didn't publish it) that whatever Princess Vet's message was, he wasn't going to persuade anyone because his presentation was so off putting and because his 'answer' was to call for the deaths of people. It is a grotesque and embarrassing video and a sign that maybe Princess Vet needs some mental help and maybe there needs to be courses before you return to civilian life encouraging to grasp that shoot-and-kill may work in the military but it is not the answer to every political issue.

I'm being nice and not naming Princess Vet. I won't be nice about Keith Boykin who Tweeted:

Trump tried to deploy military heat ray weapon on protesters in Lafayette Square that the Pentagon didn't want to use in Iraq War. Army National Guard major also confirms protesters were never given clear, audible warning to disperse before the attack.

Donald Trump did that, did he? Because that's a fact not in THE WASHINGTON POST article you link to. I'd think whoring would get old. I'd think people would say, "Wait, let me deal with what we know. This is a very serious issue and I want to deal with the facts." Not Keith. It's not about what was 'tried,' it's just about partisan bulls**t.

I'd also be very careful about claiming it wasn't used in Falluja. I remember when Scott Shane got nasty about what weapons were used in Iraq at THE NEW YORK TIMES and then, woops, he had to follow up with an article admitting White Phosphorus was used. I'd be very careful about claims from the Pentagon about what they used in Iraq and what they didn't use because they have been repeatedly caught denying this or that use only for it to be exposed that this or that was used.

In other news, NBC NEWS Tweets about Jon Stewart:

"The only difference between the 9/11 responders at Ground Zero...is that that was caused by a terrorist attack," Stewart said. "Veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering the same illnesses and the same toxic exposure."

Here's THE NEWSHOUR (PBS) reporting on Jon:

The burnpits issue is one we've long covered. And Congress has done damn little. It's amazing that we set through a hearing -- and reported on it -- where a US Senator had the nerve to insult Vietnam veterans -- he was one himself -- and state his opposition to the Agent Orange registry.

Centrist Dems are liars and whores. That's why Jim Webb did not seek re-election. He was the US senator at that hearing. And you damn well better believe veterans groups knew what he did and knew what he said. That's why he didn't seek re-election. Yet when he tried to throw his hat in the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2016, centrist Dems were gushing over him like he was someone to look up to. No.

BURNPIT360 remains the strongest resource for the burnpit issue.

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