Tuesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Tuesday, March 29, 2022
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23 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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‘Our top search term is nuclear’: US bunker sales soar as anxiety over Russia rises
Hoo boy, a lot of wishful thinking out there, not the least of which is by the author of that leap into never never land.
Woof woof: Robot dog called in to help manage Pompeii
I’ve heard his bark is worse than his bite.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Shouldn’t that be “his byte”?
@Kathy: You win the Internets this morning.
@Kathy: Ouch. You’re gonna pay for that. In the next life if not this one.
American data security experts for years have been predicting a digital armageddon perpetrated by Russia against the soft underbelly of poorly secured, corporate data systems in the US, pointing to the ransomware attacks by groups adjacent to Russian military/intelligence agencies. While there have been attacks on Ukraine’s data infrastructure, those seem to have been parried, but to the moment, nothing against NATO members.
Makes one wonder that perhaps western and US intelligence effectiveness against Russia, to the point that it seems like Biden is reading Putin’s email, has spooked the Ruskies about the ability of the West to take down its infrastructure.
Shanghai in lockdown.
A man after my own heart, altho I have always been ideologically opposed to phones that are smarter than I.
@Mu Yixiao:
China’s lock down strategy was effective the first time and as method of controlling the spread of the virus, it can be again, but not w/o consequences. It is difficult to imagine that the world’s industries that rely on Chinese production are going put up with ongoing supply chain disruptions caused by lock downs. Whatever marginal cost saving for manufacturers having components/products made in China is eroded if there is no/decreased production.
But if Xi wants to commit economic suicide, let’s step aside and let him.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I have my eye on mid-First Empire Trantor for my next life. See you in about 10,000 years!
@Sleeping Dog: I saw a chart yesterday that compared transmission rates between the various COVID variants. Omicron is at 4x compared to the original
flavor. Lockdowns may not be enough anymore
@Sleeping Dog:
Maybe the Russians noticed that while they have hackers we have Apple, Microsoft, Intel etc…
And on the other side of the planet…
Le Sigh.
@Sleeping Dog: @MarkedMan:
I was just in Miami for Ultra Music Festival. Based on what I saw down there, no one’s locking down again.
@Beth:
They are in Shanghai. Tesla’s battery factory their is such down for 4 days, after being closed for 2, a couple of weeks ago. All on the orders of the Chinese government. Only one household member can go out for supplies but once a week. Kids can be outside an hour a day, but must remain w/in 500 M of their home.
China has been instituting such downs whenever an covid infection is diagnosed.
I just read an odd cooking suggestion: boiling lentils in coconut milk instead of water.
I don’t know. I’ve done that with rice, adding shredded coconut as well, and it’s very good, especially paired with sweet and sour dishes. Lentils, though, are more like beans. I can’t see bean going well with coconut.
Then, too, I usually use lentils in soup or stews, not by themselves.
I am intrigued. I may try it someday if I don’t forget it.
I’m sure Vlad doesn’t have anything else to do so he will jump right on this for Comrade Donovich.
@Mister Bluster: If he had such info, it would have been out long before now. Regardless, it’s gonna take a little time to manufacture some evidence that the credulous fools will buy
@Sleeping Dog:
I probably should have been more clear, I meant here in the U.S. The Chinese have a greater ability to bring force to bear on compliance. Here I doubt we could even get people to wear masks regularly. Covid is simply going to echo through the populace and nothing is going to stop it short of us all dying.
@Mister Bluster:
Calling his old pal now?
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, if Putin wanted Trump in the White House, he certainly would have released this info in time to kill Biden’s chances of being elected in 2020, right?
@CSK:
If he wanted Little Benito in the White House, he wouldn’t have released the dirt he has on trump.
I saw no such release of dirt. Did you?
@Mister Bluster: $3.5million? Chump change! For that sum you won’t get anyone to call you smart or tough. You gotta put up real money to get that!