So think Iran next? To "save the protestors"?
W
wtg
@wtg
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Meanwhile, in Venezuela -
Meanwhile, in VenezuelaTrump is speaking right now...Mr wtg was watching; I couldn't. He said DJT was rambling and repeating himself.
The US will run Venezuela till the transition (whatever that might be), send in US companies to spend billions of dollars to pump oil, it will benefit the US, and the Venezuelans will be thrilled and all those who came here illegally will want to go back. And everyone will live happily ever after.
I only got what Mr wtg told me. He doesn't recall any talk of what to do about the Maduro-supporting military apparatus that's still in place....
https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/venezuela-us-explosions-caracas-25a01a23e7b936b430901428ab0d0907
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Meanwhile, in Venezuela -
Meanwhile, in VenezuelaFrom Truth Social:
"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.
"This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP."https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5yqygxe41pt
But Honduran president Hernandez was pardoned after having been convicted on drug trafficking charges.
I’m confused.
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BYD > TeslaTesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker on Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk’s right-wing politics, expiring U.S. tax breaks for buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row.
Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from a year earlier.
Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles last year, is now the biggest EV maker.
It’s a stunning reversal for a car company whose rise once seemed unstoppable as it overtook traditional automakers with far more resources and helped make Musk the world’s richest man. The sales drop came despite President Donald Trump’s marketing effort early last year when he called a press conference to praise Musk as a “patriot” in front of Teslas lined up on the White House driveway, then announced he would be buying one, bucking presidential precedent to not endorse private company products.
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Busting food mythsIf you want to live longer and feel better, stop chasing food fads.
Every few months, a new “miracle” plan — keto, intermittent fasting, carnivore, raw — promises to fix everything. Most don’t. Even those that show modest benefits rarely deliver results worth the time, effort, and mental energy they demand.
As an Harvard-trained oncologist and world leader in health policy, I’ve spent decades researching what actually improves health outcomes. The answer to a longer life is so simple: Good nutrition is about building about habits you can sustain for years, not weeks.
While you should consult your physician before changing your diet, as individual needs vary, here are six nutrition myths I wish more people would let go of.
Yes, the author is Rahm's brother....
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Palladium Style EstateHaving the same agent for buyer and seller is called dual agency. There's an inherent risk when the same person is representing both the buyer and the seller because what's good for the buyer might not be in the best interests of the seller, and vice versa. If the agent is super honest, dual agency might work out ok, but it is a trickier situation to navigate than having your own buyer's agent to represent your interests exclusively.
Dual agency works differently in different states. At least the details and legal responsibilities do, I believe.
As far as real estate commissions are concerned, at least around here the seller pays the entire real estate commission and the buyer doesn't pay anything. I don't know how universal that is. In the case of dual agency, the agent gets both sides of the commission.
So what's typical around here (and may be completely different for your situation, both the state you live in and the fact that you are buying a mobile home) is that the seller's agent gets 2.5 - 3% of the sale price, and the buyer's agent gets the same. If the selling agent represents both sides they may reduce the total commission and maybe just get 4% for doing the deal. Which of course is still more that the 2.5 - 3% they would have gotten if there were two agents in the transaction.
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Low-dose aspirinSome interesting info about aspirin.
It’s hard to turn around a medical myth, exemplified by the notion that low-dose aspirin is safe and effective in healthy adults for primary prevention of heart disease, especially in people aged 60 years and older. In 2018, 3 pivotal, very large randomized trials were published, consistently showing the risk of major bleeding exceeded the benefit of CV event reduction. Even though it has now been >7 years since these trials were published, a substantial proportion of people of advanced age are still taking low-dose aspirin for primary prevention, mostly as advised by their physicians! In a survey of 160,000 Americans without heart disease, more than 30% of people age 70+ years were taking low-dose aspirin in 2021.
In this post, I’ll review the relevant data for low-dose aspirin, including some nuances, the guidelines, longer follow-up, and the question of use for cancer prevention.
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It's either time to stock up...A reprieve.
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'Data is control'What struck me was how pervasive the surveillance is, much more than who the particular players are.
There's no way to escape, is there?
In January this year, Harry Davies and Yuval Abraham first reported that Microsoft had deepened its ties to Israel alongside other major tech firms. Since then, the Guardian has published an award-winning series of investigations – in partnership with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call – that has revealed a symbiotic relationship between Silicon Valley and the Israeli military.
One investigation exposed an Israeli mass surveillance program scooping up virtually all Palestinian phone calls and storing them on Microsoft’s cloud services – setting off an inquiry that ultimately prompted the company to cut off Israel’s access to some of its technology. Another story revealed that the Israeli military created a ChatGPT-like tool to analyze data collected through the surveillance of Palestinians. Yet another revealed that Google and Amazon had agreed to extraordinary terms to clinch a lucrative contract with Israel.
I asked Davies and Abraham to discuss what they learned this year – about the role of these technologies in Israel’s assault on Gaza, whether these business ties are sustainable, and what the revelations tell us about how the wars of the future will be fought.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/30/israeli-military-big-tech
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25 years into the century -
Word association thread -
Word association thread -
Happy Public Domain Day 2026!January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925!
On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. The literary highlights range from William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying to Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage and the first four Nancy Drew novels. From cartoons and comic strips, the characters Betty Boop, Pluto (originally named Rover), and Blondie and Dagwood made their first appearances. Films from the year featured Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, the Marx Brothers, and John Wayne in his first leading role. Among the public domain compositions are I Got Rhythm, Georgia on My Mind, and Dream a Little Dream of Me. We are also celebrating paintings from Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee. Below you can find lists of some of the most notable books, characters, comics, and cartoons, films, songs, sound recordings, and art entering the public domain.
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Anybody doing wild New Year's Eve stuff? -
Word association thread -
Anybody doing wild New Year's Eve stuff? -
Anybody doing wild New Year's Eve stuff? -
Anybody doing wild New Year's Eve stuff?Wild around here could be actually staying awake till midnight.
We've got BBC News on and figure we'll ring in the new year with @andyd .
Just saw Paris and Berlin ringing in....
How about y'all? Partying? Crashing? Playing piano?
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Chopin's Op.72, No. 1@RealPlayer said in Chopin's Op.72, No. 1:
I think the recording is beautiful. By the way, have you seen that video where Seymour Bernstein argues that “hairpins” in Chopin and Brahms might mean rubato instead of crescendo and diminuendo? Head-exploding!
Bernstein is in this video; not sure if it's the specific one you were referring to.
Link to video
