State of the Universe 2020

Swami Beyondananda explains what’s going on and how to fix it. Excerpt:

Meanwhile, in the impeachment case, Republican Senators called it acquits before seeing any evidence they didn’t want to see. Talk about notseeism! Well, as the old saying goes, if it quacks like a duck and steps like a goose, there is something fowl afoot.

Click here: https://laughlearnlinks.home.blog/state-of-the-universe-2020/. This was written between impeachment and coronavirus.

Also see the Swami’s website, https://wakeuplaughing.com/beyondanews.php.

Where did the money go?

I think the graph below pretty much speaks for itself:

The United States had plenty of money half a century ago. In the 1950s and 1960s, we paid down the huge World War II debt at a time when we maintained a much larger military than today and fought wars in Korea and Vietnam. We built the Interstate Highway System and much of the other physical infrastructure we use today. We funded vigorous research and development, including the fabulously expensive Apollo program. We supported higher education well enough that middle-class students could graduate from elite universities without crippling debt….

Corporate representatives complain about high corporate income tax rates, but this is the most lucrative lie of the last century. Corporate tax rates don’t mean much because most corporations don’t pay them.

Full article: https://blog.usejournal.com/where-the-money-went-44a838a441ef

Politics 3/2020

I really don’t want to include political items in this blog, because it’s supposed to be things that make you learn and/or laugh, and I’m concerned that political items will make people make a funny face and go elsewhere. And yet I feel compelled to post these:

Don’t just blame President Trump. Blame me — and all the other Republicans who aided and abetted and, yes, benefited from protecting a political party that has become dangerous to America. Some of us knew better.

But we built this moment. And then we looked the other way.

(…) The failures of the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis can be traced directly to some of the toxic fantasies now dear to the Republican Party. Here are a few: Government is bad. Establishment experts are overrated or just plain wrong. Science is suspect. And we can go it alone, the world be damned.

All of these are wrong, of course. But we didn’t get here overnight. It took practice.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/18/elections-have-consequences-slow-response-virus-is-one-them/

And speaking of utter hypocrisy:

Leadership: Whatever happens, you’re responsible. If it doesn’t happen, you’re responsible.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2013

…whereas on Friday March 13, 2020:

“I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump announced during a press conference declaring a national emergency in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And Liam Fox makes this important point on Twitter (Liam Fox@Liamfoxactor·Mar 13):

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side.

When Yoda makes more sense than @potus you know what to do this November

Vacuum friction

I mean, outer space vacuum friction. Vacuum is empty, right? Not quite. I ran across this phrase in Science News and it’s another amazing aspect of the universe.

In physics, a virtual particle is a transient quantum fluctuation that exhibits some of the characteristics of an ordinary particle, while having its existence limited by the uncertainty principle. (Wikipedia)

So outer space vacuum is actually full of extremely short-lived particles… enough to create vacuum friction on other particles moving through the vacuum. Now an apparatus has been designed that may be sensitive enough to prove whether this really happens: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-torque-detector-could-spot-quantum-friction-vacuum.

Bust card

Is it a good idea to talk to the cops? What are your rights? What could possibly go wrong?

Bust card. The ACLU has a convenient one-page list of your rights, responsibilities, and safest actions if you are stopped by a police officer. Print it out, read it, and put it in your wallet or purse.

Here is a discussion of a video by a law professor. Note, the video link on that page doesn’t always work so here is one that does (46 minutes); search for “james duane don’t talk” for other videos by the professor.

Another blog post on your rights, and elaborate discussion on that post at Hacker News.