>The October 7th attack by Hamas and Israel's subsequent response have left the world in shock. To better understand the context behind this moment, Adam is joined by Nathan Thrall, a Jerusalem-based journalist, former Director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the International Crisis Group, and one of the leading experts on the conflict in Gaza. Nathan and Adam discuss the history of this conflict, and the dehumanizing impact of war on the everyday people caught up in it.

https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1717241394761269452

LIBERALS READ ONE BOOK FOR ADULTS CHALLENGE ANY DIFFICULTY ANY %

A good examination of postmodernism through The Simpsons.

Who knows Mr. Hollywood's number so I can get this made?

Extracts taken from: Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai by Katsu Kokichi (Author), Teruko Craig (Translator, Introduction) University of Arizona Press (July 1, 1991) https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/musuis-story

One of the albums with the biggest influences on my tastes

When Michael Protzman, the leader of the QAnon cult that believes former President John F. Kennedy and his son JFK Jr. are still alive, died in June, people hoped the end was near for the group. The family members of those who joined the cult hoped it would disband so that their loved ones would finally return home.

But instead, a new leader has seemingly emerged: a 13-year-old girl known to her followers only as “Tiny Teflon,” the name of the Telegram channel she uses to communicate with her followers. According to multiple live chats on Telegram reviewed by VICE News, Protzman appears to have groomed the girl as his protege, hosting her on his live chats on Telegram, where he had tens of thousands of followers.

Many of Protzman’s followers have permanently broken family relationships, emptied their bank accounts, and destroyed their lives to follow his wild conspiracy theories. And now it seems they are ready to do the same for a child, whose real identity is not known.

Tiny Teflon has created her own channel, conducted live streams with followers, and most worrying of all, has announced her plan to indoctrinate more children into the cult by teaching them how to decode real word events using the movement’s bastardized form of Jewish numerology, gematria.

“I definitely think I’m gonna have more kids involved in this,” Tiny said during a live chat on her channel on August 6. “Maybe they could share more code, because I don’t want to be talking the entire time when I do this show in the future. So I’ll definitely think of having kids share codes and teach what they know too.”

“It’s worrying to see this young girl be put on a pedestal by a bunch of adults after the passing of Protzman,” an open-source researcher who uses the nickname “Karma” to avoid being targeted by the members of Protzman’s cult, which she has tracked closely since its inception, told VICE News.

When alive, Protzman used gematria to convince his followers that he could see into the future and communicate with everyone from former president Donald Trump to JFK Jr. Before becoming a cult leader, Protzman was a demolition expert in Washington state. He first gained attention in November 2021 when he convinced his followers that JFK and JFK Jr. were going to reappear in Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. Around a thousand people traveled from across the country to Dallas only to be disappointed by the Kennedys’ failure to appear.

Despite this, many of Protzman’s dedicated followers remained loyal, and followed him across the country for the next 18 months. Many of them destroyed their families and finances in the process. Protzman continued to claim JFK Jr. was alive and continually changed his predictions, at one point claiming Trump was just JFK Jr. in disguise, and finally, shortly before his death, claiming he was in fact the reincarnated JFK Jr.

Protzman died on June 30 in a Rochester hospital as a result of “multiple blunt force injuries” after he “lost control of his dirt bike” according to a report from the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, which was obtained by VICE News.

While Protzman was the leader of the group, he introduced Tiny Teflon in March 2022 by featuring her on a live chat in his Telegram channels. During the chat, and in subsequent appearances, the pair would use gematria to make links between everything from the 2011 movie The Smurfs and the timing of Trump’s appearance in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York to conclude that Q’s predictions about the mass execution of the child-trafficking cabal is about to come true. It’s not known if there was any familial connection between Protzman or Tiny Teflon, or how they knew each other.

As a sign of her growing position within the group, Tiny Teflon was made an administrator of Protzman’s main Telegram channel, though she posted very little over the last 6 months. However, since his death, the teenager has re-emerged as a leading voice in the group.

In late July, she showed up at a Trump rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, where she was photographed with multiple members of the JFK group.

Then she began to post again in the Negative 48 channel. As well as posting her “decodes,” on August 1 she shared a link to her new channel called ABC 123. The channel’s description says it will contain “Tiny Teflon’s Decodes, Research and Much More!” and in all caps, adds: “CHANNEL MONITORED BY ADULT.”

The description doesn’t mention who the adult is, but it is likely her mother, a Protzman devotee who has an account on Telegram as “Teflon Don.” Using this account she has promoted her daughter’s work as well as celebrating her birthday with a message posted in the main Negative 48 channel last year.

During one live chat, Tiny Teflon went into more detail about how she would use her position to recruit more children into the cult.

“I definitely want help out with kids and teaching gematria, it’d be so much fun,” she said. She added that she plans to create a beginners’ guide for children on how to use gematria to decode real world events.

At the end of the chat some of the listeners effusively praised Tiny Teflon: “I think you inspire many, many adults and children. So thank you so much. We appreciate you. Love you so much,” said one.

Another added, “It was a pleasure listening to you and I hope my little girl can start listening to you and go from there.”

One listener responded to Tiny’s plan about including more children by saying: “I think that’s awesome because my daughter will be watching you so I’m sure we’ll be following you.” Seconds later her daughter also spoke on the live chat: “Thank you, you did so good stuff [sic], and I definitely can’t wait to hear more of you,” the girl said.

A listener identified only as “Beverly” said she thought gematria could help children with their reading and math, adding: “Can I just say great job to your parents. I mean, my gosh, I can’t imagine how proud they must be.”

While there are others who are vying to replace Protzman as leader, close watchers of the group view Tiny Telfon’s assertion that she wants to use her position to bring more children into the fold as deeply worrying.

“I believe it’s too early to see where she will fit into the group dynamics right now, it’s definitely something I will be keeping a close eye on,” “Karma,” the open-source researcher, told VICE News. “For a group who have claimed to be all about ‘saving the children’ using a child to push your own beliefs is disgusting and disturbing.”

One of my favourite places in the state. Just spent the weekend camping at the far end gorging myself on huckleberries while watching the meteor shower in a dark sky area.

The best exploration I've seen so far of Joker as alienation.

oi u cheeky lil shit

>For the first time in the world, we succeeded in synthesizing the room-temperature superconductor (Tc≥400 K, 127∘C) working at ambient pressure with a modified lead-apatite (LK-99) structure. The superconductivity of LK-99 is proved with the Critical temperature (Tc), Zero-resistivity, Critical current (Ic), Critical magnetic field (Hc), and the Meissner effect. The superconductivity of LK-99 originates from minute structural distortion by a slight volume shrinkage (0.48 %), not by external factors such as temperature and pressure. The shrinkage is caused by Cu2+ substitution of Pb2+(2) ions in the insulating network of Pb(2)-phosphate and it generates the stress. It concurrently transfers to Pb(1) of the cylindrical column resulting in distortion of the cylindrical column interface, which creates superconducting quantum wells (SQWs) in the interface. The heat capacity results indicated that the new model is suitable for explaining the superconductivity of LK-99. The unique structure of LK-99 that allows the minute distorted structure to be maintained in the interfaces is the most important factor that LK-99 maintains and exhibits superconductivity at room temperatures and ambient pressure.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/155ubx2/instead_of_raises_we_get_work_bux_to_use_on_a/

I'm going to repurpose these as ration cards in the gulag that I'll put this demon in.

Hum from onboard electronics that power SpaceX's internet-beaming Starlink satellites may disturb radio astronomy observations, a new study has found.

Experts have long warned about how astronomy is being impacted by megaconstellations of low Earth orbit satellites such as SpaceX's Starlink. The streaks those satellites leave in astronomical images mar observations of telescopes even in the most remote locations. The reflection of sunlight from these satellites might lead to an unwanted brightening of the night sky even in areas far away from urban light pollution. And the radio waves these satellites use to carry out their communications could hamper the observations of sensitive radio telescopes.

But a new, unexpected source of scientific disturbance has now emerged thanks to a new study conducted by researchers using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the Netherlands: Radiation from the onboard electronics inside Starlink satellites.

LOFAR is a network of over 40 radio antennas spread across the Netherlands, Germany and a few other European countries. The telescope is capable of detecting the longest wavelengths of radiation emitted by objects in the cosmos. However, as it transpires, radio frequencies similar to those LOFAR is designed to detect are also unintentionally emitted by Starlink satellites. In the new study, the researchers described detecting this unwanted low-frequency radio hum from nearly 50 Starlink spacecraft.

"With LOFAR, we detected radiation between 110 and 188 MHz from 47 out of the 68 satellites that were observed," Cees Bassa, an astronomer at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), which manages the LOFAR array, and a co-author of the recent paper said in a statement. "This frequency range includes a protected band between 150.05 and 153 MHz specifically allocated to radio astronomy by the International Telecommunications Union."

The finding is of concern to next-generation large-scale radio observatories, such as the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO), which is currently being built on two remote sites in Australia and South Africa. To maximize the telescope's ability to detect even the faintest signals, regulators have placed radio-quiet zones around the sites where no cellular telephony, terrestrial TV or radio use is allowed. Starlink (and other internet-beaming) satellite constellations, however, can freely travel over those locations and due to their low altitude disturb observations.

The ASTRON team added in their statement that SpaceX is not in breach of any rules as this kind of radiation from satellites is not regulated by any guidelines, unlike that of the terrestrial devices.

"This study represents the latest effort to better understand satellite constellations' impact on radio astronomy," the study's lead author and SKAO spectrum manager Federico Di Vruno, said in the statement. "Previous workshops on Dark and Quiet Skies theorized about this radiation, our observations confirm it is measurable."

The researchers further modeled the impact of this "unintended" radiation from a larger number of satellites. The simulations showed that the unwanted effects would become more pronounced with the constellation's size.

"Our simulations show that the larger the constellation, the more important this effect becomes as the radiation from all satellites adds up," said co-author Benjamin Winkel from the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Germany. "This makes us not only worried about the existing constellations but even more about the planned ones. And also about the absence of clear regulation that protects the radio astronomy bands from unintended radiation."

The authors added that SpaceX is collaborating with the astronomers in search for solutions that would enable the constellation and astronomy to coexist without negative impacts.

SpaceX has already launched well over 4,000 Starlink satellites, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell. The company already has regulatory approval to deploy 12,000 of the broadband communications satellites and has filed for approval to launch another 30,000 Starlink craft.

I'm discussing trans issues with someone whose heart is in the right place but who hasn't yet gotten into the science or theory of transition therapies/surgeries. In particular they're hung up about three issues:

1. Puberty blocking in FtM transitions and its impact on afab anatomical development if that transman doesn't go through with the full transition

2. The underlying science of gender dysphoria and how much that impacts someone. Specifically addressing it through talk therapy versus the necessity of presenting as a different gender and getting the reassignment surgeries

3. The concept of gender as a fluid cultural costume rather than a biologically hard-coded identity, and the gender spectrum more broadly

Having discussions about it is making good progress but I also don't have a solid handle on the science to make definitive arguments. Is there a book, collection of studies, or video essay/podcast that provides a good overview of these questions in particular?

https://www.reddit.com/r/modernart/comments/u1y3xf/madge_gill_untitled_outsider_art_1940/

The high days of spiritualism were an interesting time for modernity. It was a rough world to live shortly in. We didn't yet have scientific understandings of psychology and psychiatry to cope with things like high infant and child mortality rates, more widespread domestic enslavement of women along with the demands of Victorian/Edwardian social propriety, there weren't labour rights or proper unions if they did manage to gather enough independence to chase self-actualisation.

Especially in the aftermath of grief, the treatment gap was filled with spiritualist mediums who claimed to be able to communicate with the dead. What we now consider party games for children and magic tricks were taken seriously by people who could choose between that and an old-timey asylum for dealing with the trauma of their children dying. It was a role analogous to what modern chiropractors do for the new age that replaced the spiritualist age without losing its ontological framework.

Madge Gill is an example of one of the people on the receiving end of spiritualism. From her wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madge_Gill

>Born 19 January 1882, an illegitimate child in East Ham, Essex, (now Greater London), she spent much of her early years in seclusion because her family couldn't stand the embarrassment. At age 9, despite her mother still being alive, she was placed in Dr. Barnardo’s Girls’ Village Home orphanage at Barkingside, Ilford, Essex.[1]

>In 1896, she was sent to Canada by Dr. Barnardo's Homes as a British Home Child, arriving aboard the S.S. Scotsman as one of a group of 254 children destined to become farm laborers and domestic servants for Canadian families.[3] Upon arrival at Quebec City, she and the other girls in her travel party were taken by train to Barnardo’s Hazelbrae Home in Peterborough, Ontario before being sent out on placements as domestics.[4] Her name, Maud Eades, can be found inscribed on the “Additions and Corrections” side panel installed on the Hazelbrae Barnardo Home Memorial in Peterborough in 2019.[5] After spending her teenage years working as a domestic servant and caregiver for young children on a series of Ontario farms, she managed to move back to East Ham in 1900 to live with her aunt, who introduced her to Spiritualism and astrology.[1][6] During that time, she found work as a nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital, in Leytonstone.

>At the age of 25, she married her cousin, Thomas Edwin Gill, a stockbroker. Together they had three sons; their second son Reginald, died of the Spanish flu. The following year she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl and almost died herself, contracting a serious illness that left her bedridden for several months and blind in her left eye

Even by the atrocious living standards of the day that's a bad hand to be dealt. Considering herself to be a vessel for spiritual communication in the aftermath of it, while living as a housewife soon due for the asylum, she began manically drawing scenes like this. Also from her wikipedia article:

>During her illness, in 1920, Gill – now thirty-eight – took a sudden and passionate interest in drawing, creating thousands of allegedly mediumistic works over the following 40 years, most done with ink in black and white. The works came in all sizes, from postcard-sized to huge sheets of fabric, some over 30 feet (9.1 m) long. She claimed to be guided by a spirit she called "Myrninerest" (my inner rest) and often signed her works in this name. As American scholar Daniel Wojcik noted, "like other Spiritualists, Gill did not attribute her art to her own abilities, but considered herself to be a physical vessel through which the spirit world could be expressed."[7] However, she experimented with a wide variety of media including knitting, writing, weaving, and crochet work.[8] Extremely prolific, she was capable of completing dozens of drawings in a single night. The figure of a young woman in intricate dress appeared thousands of times in her work and is often thought to be a representation of herself or her lost daughter, and in general female subjects dominate her work. Her drawings are characterised by geometric chequered patterns and organic ornamentation, with the blank staring eyes of female faces and their flowing clothing interweaving into the surrounding complex patterns.

And from: https://www.messynessychic.com/2020/01/28/meet-mrs-madge-gill-the-outsider-artist-who-painted-through-the-spirit-world/

>“Mediumistic Art.” It’s something we’d never heard of, until we uncovered the mysterious world of Mrs. Madge Gill. One of history’s most important outsider artists, Madge tended to her garden, her husband, and her children in what appeared to be the quiet life of a London housewife. But one day, she felt a stirring to create, and in the darkest hours of the night, she began to draw – and she wasn’t alone. Madge declared her artistic partnership with an otherworldly companion, a spirit called “Myrninerest,” as the guiding, ghostly of creative bouts. Together, they made an elaborate tapestry of thousands of works, from embroidered pieces to tapestries, gothic, architectural drawings to a kind of alphabet. History has labeled her art as “obsessive”and “giddy”; “ghostlike,” and existing in familiar, kaleidoscopic spaces.

This relationship with a ghost would later compel her to stop making art after another death of a child.