TheVat

So I wondered, if a standard quintessence field alone is not expected to be anisotropic because it is modeled as a homogeneous scalar field across the universe, then are there other theoretical frameworks where a quintessence field could exhibit anisotropic behavior? I had seen something a while ago where researchers are investigating scenarios where a quintessence field within a compact star (like a neutron star) could contribute to anisotropic pressure due to the star's internal structure, leading to an anisotropic manifestation of the quintessence field within that specific region. Beyond my understanding of physics, but could there be some anisotropic stress component in the energy-momentum tensor? Modifying GR? Hahaha!

BTW, if the main facility that is generating quintessence theories is called DESI, then they should have a facility that generates rival vacuum energy theories called LUCY.

This paper considers a field variable over time (not space). https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9505060

Stirring performance, lovely performer, and I loved the top comment which concerns coughing during a performance. (clicking on comments should show it first) I can play Asturias on piano, but on acoustic guitar it sounds so. much. better.

Could energy density vary from one region of space to another?

Be seeing you. I loved that Lotus 7.

Nope, still not seeing the relevance, if this is a politics forum. Seems suitable for speculations on alternate historical timelines, I guess. In Alt 1962, Cuba kept the missiles and Russia launched a nuclear strike again the USA. I'm thinking, again, the standard Herman Kahn scenario would have kicked in and the US would have nuked Russia. Sure, one could nuke Cuba, but seems like those missiles in Laurie's scenario were already launched and so Russian sites would be priority targets rather than the recently emptied silos or launch stands in Cuba.

Well, the question asked (with its original shout uppercase) was... ...ridiculous. Cuba doesn't have Russian missiles. If it did, Cuba would obviously not be our retaliatory target, Russia would. So is the OP asking how we would participate in a 1962 World War Three? Or is OP, based on today's headlines, making an analogy to our supplying Ukraine with ATACMs and greenlighting their use? Legitimate question and call for clarification, imo.

Twas really only mentioning one aspect, as a bit of synecdoche. Resisiting oligarchs and fascists wouid be a vast mosaic of possible choices that citizens make. The problem is people knowing they have choices, i.e. seeing above the ocean of propaganda and marketing they swim in. E.g. a lot of people don't know that over vast stretches of the US, it is cheaper to heat a home with a heat pump than a gas furnace. Or that Biden admin set up generous rebates for it (which may soon go away). When those rebates vanish, people will be pissed, and we will have that Leopards Eating Faces Party thing again. (the meme, for those who missed it, is something like: I never thought leopards would eat MY face, sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating Peoples Faces Party.) Sincerely, Shirley Thevat

Would OP kindly clarify what the OP is asking? Tired of guessing.

I like the Keillorian optimism, but would also suggest anyone who can could buy electric mowers, bikes, cars, and heat pumps. IOW make market forces that run counter to MAGAs drillbabydrill agenda. One power late stage capitalism gives we the peeps is to use our money to say no to Trump's "what global warming?" shtick.

Need to make small correction. Secret Agent Man was not played as the opening theme of Danger Man in the UK, only with the US release of the series alternately titled Secret Agent. In the UK, a different theme opened the show.* I'm a Fleck fan. Hidden Land I listened to quite a bit back in the 00s. *later, the secret agent was gassed, abducted to a village, and squeezed by a malevolent weather balloon. That sequel series was my favorite show in my early teens.

Why is this, which I take to be a sixties metaphor, applicable to current events? The US hasn't given Ukraine nukes, but rather longer range conventional missiles.

The Japanese say you cannot know life if you don't know death.

Kid definitely went down to the crossroads. Gave a lesson. Well, virtuoso guitar on a bit less pyrotechnic level, but still very fine picking, is Junior Brown. (check out the change at around 5:00, should be very familiar to UK members)

I think Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, Mother Jones, and Martin Luther King had some good ideas on how to resist while letting the violence all be from the other side. Thus exposing the truth of Asimov's famous axiom: Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. It does take some guts to march or strike or lie down in a road, though, so it's always a question of numbers. Having the internet could help with gathering large flashmobs and organizing mass strikes.

This morning I saw a video of a man who voted for Trump because he wanted to kill Obamacare but now he is angry because he is unemployed and realized the ACA he depends on for his healthcare is Obamacare. I never thought leopards would eat MY face, sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating Peoples Faces Party.

Kennedy is so annoying in his uneven levels of rationality - used to do valuable environmental law stuff, and has some good ideas about Big Ag, ultraprocessed food, etc. There was a time I could admire his spirit. Then he goes off on some WiFi causes cancer rant, or whatever the crackpot du jour is, and needs to be returned to the padded room. It's really sad.

Yes. And Gym Jordan is weasel in chief of the House. There used to be a crazy idea that transparency in our houses of congress was a desirable feature of democracy. And some surnames are a gift. All media publish some crap. My experience of NPR is that this is not representative of their coverage for the most part. I wonder if outlets are getting in that straining-to-be-neutral mode again, where they tiptoe around idiocy with too much delicacy. NPR has been pretty good in other reportage on calling out harebrained kookiness

Sorry, I didn't mean legal grounds, but House procedural rules. I may also be quite mistaken, but somehow had the notion that the committee could now bury the report on some procedure technicality. If they have a GOP majority on that committee, then they would avail themselves of any such. Good news for you: Funding for NPR comes from dues and fees paid by member stations, underwriting from corporate sponsors, and annual grants from the publicly funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Most of its member stations are owned by non-profit organizations, including public school districts, colleges, and universities. NPR operates independently of any government or corporation, and has full control of its content. All I can say is, if you like their content, please donate. TFG and his minions could manage to scare off some corporate donors, so citizen donors will matter more.

I wondered if the HEC, with its GOP majority, would just bury the report. Technically, Gaetz has left their jurisdiction, so they now lack grounds to present anything. As for GOP constituents actually reading the CR, or their media feeds reporting it, hard to imagine. My guess is that Senate leadership will do an oops strategy, i.e. not be willing to confirm the ridiculous slate of cabinet designates but just feel the need for a recess and let TFG use the archaic recess rule and make the temp appointments (two years, actually) himself. So we would be stuck with clowns like Gaetz for two years, after which time, the Senate could formally appoint him on the grounds he's had two years experience. It's like something from a political satire, but it wouldn't surprise me. The other possibility. And the first round of rejections allows the GOP to accuse Democrats of being partisan hacks just out to scuttle the orderly process of government. Projection is always a useful tactic.

Don't troll me. Charon explained his comparison adequately for anyone to understand.

https://theonion.com/heres-why-i-decided-to-buy-infowars/ The best part of the joke is that The Onion really did buy InfoWars (but for slightly different reasons than the "CEO" states above). https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/14/onion-info-wars-alex-jones Going to be smiling all day over that one.

IIRC Trump was boasting at rallies many months ago that he would start solving the nations problems the day after the election. Pretty sure "goat rodeo" was one of the first phrases that popped in my head, on hearing this. As @Airbrush noted, it's all for show and very little of his harebrained plans will ever be implemented at full scale. Though a lot of the RW in the US has had their wet dream of shrinking the federal government and giving states more autonomy (and no money). This could happen to some degree. One of their dreams is to eliminate income tax entirely and run the fed on a sales tax. As nutty at that is, it has a shiny surface appeal.

Your posts all touch on information firehose problems I have also reflected on. My current response is that if many lack gatekeepers, then they will try to develop some kind of philosophy (for some, maybe "spiritual" is applicable, e.g. the Zen of web browsing) that can help see what knowledge does, and how to disconnect and go visit the analog world. And, also important, how to humbly acknowledge where their knowledge is gappy or absent, i.e. that reading a wiki or watching a Veritasium video on YT doesn't make an expert. That TT influencers are just amateurs and/or cranks. Maybe we will need more people like that philosopher who writes a column in The Atlantic. (Arthur Brooks) Who (just looked) also has a YT channel, haha. So then there's that paradox where someone with actual wisdom is on a medium that is mostly garbage and might be trying to warn you that it is mostly garbage (but trust them). Sigh.