Deep Space, Baby
Or, Prattle Beyond The Stars:
Physicists at MIT and SUNY Stony Brook recently announced findings that the total surface area of two black holes was maintained after the two entities merged. While this research was a welcome confirmation of both Stephen Hawking’s work and the theory of general relativity, it failed to address a crucial matter: what were its racial implications?
Heather Mac Donald browses an astronomy course at Cornell University, titled Black Holes: Race and the Cosmos, and premised on the question, “Is there a connection between the cosmos and the idea of racial blackness?” It seems unlikely that said course will enable any great scientific revelations, despite marshalling the combined forces of “Black Studies theorists” and the late jazz musician Sun Ra, who claimed to have visited Saturn; though it promises to “conjure blackness through cosmological themes.”
And so, while some observe the merging of bogglingly massive astronomical objects, others regard themselves as a more fascinating topic, and “conjure” their own “blackness.” Via farce, contrivance, and racial narcissism.
Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.
Physics is hard but wokeness is easy.
Physics is hard but wokeness is easy.
An easy ‘A’, certainly. Though I suppose that depends on one’s appetite for farce, contrivance, and racial narcissism.
“How would it be if the United States were viewed by the rest of the world as interfering with the elections directly of other countries…”
Oh yes do tell us, how would it be? 🙄
Remember when it was just a Clown Quarter? I seem to recall not too many years ago when some people here expressed confidence that this nonsense would stop once it hit STEM. Bwahahahaha. Notice I used a period instead of an exclamation point there. Yes. I did it on purpose.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/13/stop-using-periods-period-2/
Remember when it was just a Clown Quarter?
It metastasised.
For those with a taste for melancholy ghost stories, we’re about halfway through this and so far, it ain’t bad.
Not my usual thing, and not what I expected.
Conventional wisdom would have it that the “black” in black holes has nothing to do with race.
Golly. It would seem “conventional wisdom” is an odd way to spell “fact”.
…the combined forces of “Black Studies theorists” and the late jazz musician Sun Ra…
You left out Outkast.
Guy is a veritable Kepler.
No, not without psychopathology, and don’t call me Shirley.
Cornell. Elite University. Yo.
It
Yes. I think that’s the link where some asshole in the comments said some somewhat prescient things. Though he wasn’t quite as much of an asshole back then.
Trudeau and friends are on tear, passing Bill C-10 and threatening to bring back the Section 13 hate speech provision that Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant (amongst others) helped defeat almost a decade ago. It’s unclear whether the Conservative Party of Canada is the solution to this problem, however (a problem across the Anglosphere).
Huh.
I always visualize such tales of whoa (Contemporary Black Studies) as an Earth, Wind, and Fire album cover.
What, you ask, is an “album”?
My lawn, offa’it.
melancholy ghost stories
Yes, it was truly excellent. You might also like the first, and possibly the second entry of American Horror Stories.
You can stop there though. It goes downhill dramatically after that. Much like the second haunting of Bly Manor. Apparently.
but let me tuck the 380 before I jet
What, no Desert Eagle “point five oh”?
Slacker.
What, no Desert Eagle “point five oh”?
Too big and heavy to tuck when you are sagging…
“It’s unclear whether the Conservative Party of Canada is the solution to this problem”
Not a chance David. The Conservative Party of Canada is way too concerned about media optics, polls, or newspaper opinions than conserving anything. At this point the only difference between the 2 groups is that the Liberals favour red ties, and the Conservatives favour blue ones. Any dissent is ruthlessly crushed out by party leaders.
Too big and heavy to tuck when you are sagging…
Sagging? You need to stuff another stack in there before heading to your whip.
Or something. So I’m told.
So on seeing a twatter titled Is Subway selling real tuna? I felt compelled to find out.
Unsure as I was about whether it was going to condemn Subway for selling tuna because tunas are trans and cute, or denounce Subway for not selling tuna because tunas are sustainable, or some completely unexpected concocted outrage.
Well, it links to a New York Times article called “The Big Tuna Sandwich Mystery” [“All the News That’s Fit to Print” indeed – plus rather more shit like this] which follows the following structure:
Clever Title
– 262 words explaining to moronic NYT subscribers what tuna is and what Subway is.
Tuna, in the Abstract
– 639 words copy and pasted from better articles describing in more detail what tuna is and what Subway is.
From the Sea to Your Submarine
– 742 words explaining what fishing is.
Sandwich Artists Weigh In
– 392 words explaining what a sandwich is.
The Lab Results
– “…we cannot identify the species.”
– 480 words outlining why the non-existent lab results do not in any way diminish the value of this article
I read it so you don’t have to!
Long story short: I didn’t find out. 😢
Sagging?
Be around your knees with a Desert Eagle. OTOH, that might start a new trend.
Meanwhile, as we were speaking of understanding of blackness things, I was wondering if anyone can translate this.
I was wondering if anyone can translate this.
One more time.
translate this
Alas no. I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t even know what a “non-black latinxs” might be.
However, I can report that although the phrase “afrodescendant communities” gets almost 5000 results (who knew!), there are only 4 hits for “predominantly afrodescendant communities”. Which must tell us something?
Unfortunately again I don’t know precisely what a “Frodo” descendant is, but we can say for sure that there aren’t nearly as many “predominant” ones.
One more time.
Yes, but that doesn’t address the underlined bits or “Latinxs”.
The plural of Latinx would be Latinx, you know, like sheep, or moose.
racial narcissism
That.
what a “Frodo” descendant is,
Hmm. I thought one of the other hobbitses was married off.
we’re about halfway through this and so far, it ain’t bad
Sadly, it does not end….well, not that it doesn’t end well as much as the last episode appears to have been written by a completely different writing crew who were under the impression they were writing a Very Special Episode of something rather than a psychologically disturbing gothic horror story. The tone shift is a bit perplexing.
I will say the blatantly obvious attempt to ape WestWorld, down to the opening credits, amused me greatly. Your Netflix dollars at work.
second haunting of Bly Manor
Bly Manor is a gothic romance rather than a gothic horror story. It failed to hold my attention because of it, but it seemed competently done.
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/022187.html
Inflation.
black blackmail
While this is certainly true of high-profile grifters and lowlife layabouts alike, the most common usage of of the black victimization narrative is for good-thinker Huwhites to attack bad-thinker Ytes. “Black Bodies” wielded as the cudgel of corporate communism, as it were.
I mean, just imagine for a moment the money riding on continued racial disharmony, as well as the sheer quantity of people for whom even a modest improvement in western cultural confidence would mean unemployment.
Bly Manor is a gothic romance rather than a gothic horror story
That may be so. Unfortunately it’s not called The Passion of Bly Manor. It’s called The Haunting of Bly Manor. As such I expect at least competent ghosts.
Unfortunately again I don’t know precisely what a “Frodo” descendant is
A strange hybrid of Hobbit and Elf, Hobbit and Dwarf, Hobbit and human, and so on. A strange, disturbing history which for some reason involves strawberry scented bath soap.
So there you have it.
“Whitey’s on the Moon”
Richard Landes argued convincingly, in Heaven on Earth, that lunatics like critical race theorists only tske in terms of power to enfocrce their millenarian dreams when the authorities are converted or replaced by the new faith.
Conservative parties the world over are bad at resisting the lunatics because establishment conservatives are afraid of appearing no longer be respectable. This is because conservatives are too often group animals and don’t have the tools (or spine) to stand up to the shrieking.
*take off in
Dammed mobile keyboards! (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!)
Given, last I checked, the earliest hominids were resident in Africa, surely all communities are Afro-descended?
“Do you like what you doth see . . . ?” said the voluptuous elf-maiden
as she provocatively parted the folds of her robe to reveal the rounded,
shadowy glories within. Frito’s throat was dry, though his head reeled with
desire and ale.
She slipped off the flimsy garment and strode toward the fascinated
boggie unashamed of her nakedness. She ran a perfect hand along his hairy
toes, and he helplessly watched them curl with the fierce insistent wanting of
her.
“Let me make thee more comfortable,” she whispered hoarsely, fiddling
with the clasps of his jerkin, loosening his sword belt with a laugh. “Touch
me, oh _touch me_,” she crooned.
Frito’s hand, as though of its own will, reached out and traced the
delicate swelling of her elf-breast, while the other slowly crept around her
tiny, flawless waist, crushing her to his barrel chest.
“Toes, I _love_ hairy toes,” she moaned, forcing him down on the
silvered carpet. Her tiny, pink toes caressed the luxuriant fur of his instep
while Frito’s nose sought out the warmth of her precious elf-navel.
“But I’m so small and hairy, and . . . and you’re so _beautiful_,” Frito
whimpered, slipping clumsily out of his crossed garters.
The elf-maiden said nothing, but only sighed deep in her throat and held
him more firmly to her faunlike body. “There is one thing you must do for me
first,” she whispered into one tufted ear.
“Anything,” sobbed Frito, growing frantic with his need. “Anything!”
She closed her eyes and then opened them to the ceiling. “The Ring,” she
said. “I must have your Ring.”
Frito’s whole body tensed. “Oh no,” he cried, “not that! Anything but .
. . that.”
“I must have it,” she said both tenderly and fiercely. “I must have the
_Ring!_”
Frito’s eyes blurred with tears and confusion. “I can’t,” he said. “I
mustn’t!”
But he knew resolve was no longer strong in him. Slowly, the elf-
maiden’s hand inched toward the chain in his vest pocket, closer and closer it
came to the Ring Frito had guarded so faithfully
Her tiny, pink toes caressed the luxuriant fur of his instep
If anyone’s getting aroused by this thread, I’m fetching the hamster urine.
Go on…
Oh God. Urine Me! Urine Me!
If anyone’s getting aroused by the hamster urine, I’m fetching the weasels.
David runs a respectable establishment.* Pervy hobbit fanciers not welcome.
* For certain values of respectable.
Ahhh…weasels xxxx.
Pervy hobbit fanciers not welcome.
That reminds me of an old text-based computer game I used to play. There was an old lady you could randomly encounter in the village who had a covered basket full of kittens that, for a bit of coin, you could examine. Sometimes you’d reach in and get a tabby or calico or something, and there would be some benefit from that. But sometimes she’d slap your hand away and call you a pervy kitten fancier, and that would be like a mild curse that wore off after a bit.
Now I wonder where that phrase “pervy — fancier” comes from. It’s gotta be some pop cultural reference I’m not getting. Monty Python, perhaps?
Now I wonder where that phrase “pervy — fancier” comes from.
I have no idea. The Very Secret Diaries usage is the only one I am familiar with, and it is more recent than your old text-based computer game.
It’s gotta be some pop cultural reference I’m not getting.
Not necessarily. After all, someone had to be the first to coin the phrase.
Frito’s throat was dry, though his head reeled with
desire and ale.
I picture Frito as a Latinx hobbit in a Cheech and Chong skit
“BRAAAACK”
Frito: Scuse me.
Frito: Why I say scuse me. There’s nobody here.
Frito: Man, I gotta stop eating those refried beans for elevenses.
I actually believe there is a link, at least metaphorically, between black holes and race:
There is a monetary “event horizon”. On one side is barely productive economic activity where significant amounts of cash are spent on frivolous, useless, and disposable things. On the other side all of the cash is gone, destroyed by vandalism, fraud, theft, and death.
There is a monetary “event horizon”.
Sounds a bit, well, Gibbons. As in Roman Empire…
Her tiny, pink toes caressed the luxuriant fur of his instep
Definetely related …
Unlike most common laboratory rodents, hamsters tend to defecate and urinate in one corner of the cage and, because they are desert-adapted animals, hamsters produce relatively scant amounts of urine.
Ohh.. look at Mr. Fancy… lobbing about the precious hamster urine.
Lace doilies on the bar and the Weekend Gazette on the tables next, I suppose.
Definetely related …
Those pervy elf-hobbit jokes were jokes. The sexy skunks in Pogo and Warner Brothers cartoons were jokes. Now we have furries and elf-sex cosplayers and, God knows what else.
Every year there is less and less on TV that I want to see.
My own background is in the “hard sciences” and although it’s self-evident to say so these are extremely dangerous/sinister developments in our culture.
We, collectively, must stress to those leading us down this road that when the great correction occurs (as it must at some point) that they pretty much begged for the results. Robespierre would agree I’m sure.
PS. Nothing wrong with having a weasel ferret around in your trousers. One mans meat and all that.
“Or, Prattle Beyond The Stars”
/applause
farce, contrivance, and racial narcissism.
Nail on head.
Nail on head.
Not entirely unrelated, when space exploration is viewed through a “lens” of identitarian monomania. (Or, when a “diverse group of thought leaders” – all far-left, inevitably – share their thoughts on the need for deaf and disabled astronauts, before pondering whether a mission to Mars would benefit Black Lives Matter.)
The question at the end of the video, around 20:40, and the subsequent awkward silence, is, I think, rather telling.
/applause
For those unfamiliar, Battle Beyond the Stars is a 1980 film. It is not, it has to be said, a triumph of cinema.
Say what you like about social sciences, I predict a renaissance in a couple of decades time. Once the West disappears up its own arsehole, Chinese academics in the social sciences will have a field day with this bollocks.
Sun Ra….
I once persuaded Mrs. Oik to accompany me to a concert by the then extremely ancient Mr. Ra and his “Arkestra” at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. We were treated to approximately ninety minutes’worth of atonal free improvisation by a bunch of elderly, mainly white, hippies.
The encore featured an actual tune in the form of “Rocket #9” which I think was the only thing he ever did which was vaguely popular.
It took me nearly three decades to persuade her to go to a gig with me again (Van Morrison, who was also rubbish but for very different reasons).
It took me nearly three decades to persuade her to go to a gig with me again
More on Mr, um, Ra here, including his, um, lecturing at Berkeley.
Better buckle up David. All your blogs are now belong to Canada. And its authoritarian, corrupt, scandal-ridden Trudeau regime.
Once the West disappears up its own arsehole, Chinese academics in the social sciences will have a field day with this bollocks.
You should re-read 1984 to see how that might work out. The phrase “memory hole” comes to mind. Such bollocks could perhaps work for any population.
What, you ask, is an “album”? (anon a mouse, yesterday)
Here you go: early 17th century: from Latin, neuter of albus ‘white’ used as a noun meaning ‘a blank tablet’
Which is amusing.
Wherein an expat understands the Constitution better than most ‘Murkans.
Speaking of deep space, there was a scene in one of the Austin Powers movies about the shape of Dr. Evil’s spaceship.
So this is what Bezos comes up with. It is unsure whether he has a base in a volcano also.
Better buckle up David. All your blogs are now belong to Canada. And its authoritarian, corrupt, scandal-ridden Trudeau regime.
Trudeau is a corrupt totalitarian, but I chiefly blame Canadians for being so intellectually and morally degraded as to not just elect but then re-elect this communist-loving monster.
More on Mr, um, Ra here, including his, um, lecturing at Berkeley.
I once wondered how anyone could be attracted to such deranged and unintelligent substitutes for thought. Now the universities are full of it.
I chiefly blame Canadians for being so intellectually and morally degraded as to not just elect but then re-elect this communist-loving monster.
But Canadians are nice. So very, very nice. Being nice and well liked by others is the most important thing there is, don’t you agree? Of course you do. You do if you want everyone to think that you are nice too. It is nice to be nice. Be the good people!
I once wondered how anyone could be attracted to such deranged and unintelligent substitutes for thought
You never met one of my college roommates. See comment regarding nice Canadians above. Substitute the word ‘smart’ for ‘nice’, ‘intellectuals’ for ‘Canadians’, ‘respected’ for ‘liked’.
Engineer.
I chiefly blame Canadians for being so intellectually and morally degraded as to not just elect but then re-elect this communist-loving monster.
Indeed. Read the replies to tweet wherein vaccinated Justin goes into “quarantine” after the G7. “Working from home” strangely not staying in one of the many Canadian quarantine hotels and eating gas station sandwiches like the rest of the plebians.
Meanwhile in other news, newly discovered violent language.
Engineer.
Heh. You’d think someone would have caught that during one of the requirements sprints. Sigh…another Agile failure.
I chiefly blame Canadians…
Canadian Politicians: We’re going to regulate speech, but only for those big, bad “broadcasters”.
Canadians: Sounds good, eh. They don’t have rights or anything.
Canadian Politicians: By the way, regular citizens are also “broadcasters” and will have their speech regulated.
Canadians: You f*cking hoser, what about my rights!?
GFY Canada.
The psychopathic authoritarians are increasingly laying out their Bond-villain plans proudly, and in public.
Oh Canada!
Not new, but nonetheless horrifying. Key takes:
Psychology professor at Mount Allison University Dr Rima Azar (a Lebanese refugee) made a blog expressing her belief that Canada is not a racist country.
All fucking hell broke loose.
Zoë Wright is a fifth year student at Mount Allison and a Two-Spirit Indigenous person:
Wright points out that Azar’s blog is anonymous….
“It’s clear that she didn’t feel respected enough or have enough trust in her peers and her colleagues to speak out about this in person,” says Wright…
“I think this is a really great opportunity to open a dialogue into making Mount Allison a more accepting space for everybody to voice their opinions, but also feel safe.”
[The Black Students’ Union’s] demands are the following:
1. Dr Azar to be removed from her position at Mount Arsehole University.
…
3. MTA to call for the removal of Dr. Azar from the various other universities and councils in which she is involved.
etc.
Apologies to @Geezer for my lack of VERBATIM quotes.
But Canadians are nice. So very, very nice.
The Stasi will wear smiley faces.
[The Black Students’ Union’s] demands are the following:
My counter-demand: Expel all Black Students’ Union members from campus. And from the nation. Reasonable?
Meanwhile in the Antipodes, ” health authorities” relent and allow a vaccinated man to visit his terminally ill father, but no hugs. He might get sick and die, or something.
Where the hell do they dig these people up ?
“Zoë Wright is a fifth year student”
“Lots of people go to college for six years…
Yeah, they’re called Doctors”
Dude…James Bond was the bad guy. What we have here is a failure to communicate. Gotta get yer mind right.
For those with a taste for melancholy ghost stories, we’re about halfway through this and so far, it ain’t bad.
I very much enjoyed it. Give me atmospheric horror stories over gore-forward, jump-scare fare any day.
I very much enjoyed it. Give me atmospheric horror stories over gore-forward, jump-scare fare any day.
As I said, it’s not the kind of thing I’d usually watch, but it’s much better than I’d expected and has kept me engaged so far. And the tall chap with the cane, floating about in the hallways and peering under beds, was quite something.
So very, very nice.
has kept me engaged so far.
Episode 6 “Two storms” takes the creep factor to new heights.
(I also appreciate it a bit as my grandfather was a mortician and my mom lived in the apartment over the mortuary until she was about 5 when the family moved into their new home)
Episode 6 “Two storms” takes the creep factor to new heights.
Not quite that far in yet. Which reminds me, the series also feels quite long, but in a good way. I was briefly convinced we must have watched more episodes than we have, but it’s just that there’s a lot of story and characterisation, so it feels quite substantial. There’s plenty in each episode.
Where the hell do they dig these people up ?
Well, they do resemble zombies…
(Via Ambush Predator): Thug, already on trial for vicious knife attack, stabs a third victim.
Q: Why was he free to perpetrate yet another attack? Why was he not locked up?
A: The ruling class wants us to be helpless and in fear.
I was briefly convinced we must have watched more episodes than we have, but it’s just that there’s a lot of story and characterisation, so it feels quite substantial
I had a different reaction – I felt, repeatedly, that there was a great deal more to the show that had been cut out. The origin of many of the spirits haunting the place is given and then seemingly forgotten; there are a lot of Chekhov’s Guns flying around. The show bears no connection to the book save the title, and left me feeling like there were actually two shows here – a gothic horror story about a family living in a haunted house, and a psychological study about a family dealing with a genetic predilection for mental illness – that were smashed together not entirely seamlessly (note to the writers – if the former is supposed to be a allegory for the latter, maybe don’t have one of your main characters explicitly state the allegory.)
And then there’s the last episode, where the house suddenly goes from malevolent, unpredictable supernatural entity to a kind of Sufficiently Advanced Technology TARDIS with consistent rules that can be exploited to the benefit of the main characters.
On that note, I’m rewatching Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, which also has nothing whatsoever to do with the book, and is a wonderful deconstruction of Doctor Who. Since the original book was adapted from an unused Doctor Who script, this seems apropos.
The show bears no connection to the book save the title,
I haven’t read the novel, but I vaguely recall seeing the 60s film adaptation, with which this series doesn’t seem to have much in common, beyond some of the names, now attached to entirely different characters, and the stairs.
By the way, regular citizens are also “broadcasters” and will have their speech regulated.
[ Adjusts antenna. Turns up the power to 50,000 Watts ]
Hey, look at me, I’m broadcasting. Citizens of the world, Comrades, it is your right to msldlasdj….[ static ]….dsflalkdfk….
[ Cue Rush’s 2112 ]
“Attention all planets of the solar federation. We have assumed control. We have assumed control.”
but I chiefly blame Canadians for being so intellectually and morally degraded as to not just elect but then re-elect this communist-loving monster.
Two thirds of Canadians did not vote for Trudeau and his merry band of Liberals. The vagaries of a multi-party, parliamentary democracy that uses first past the post to elect MPs in a country with polarized regional differences can lead to this result.
Not only did Trudeau’s party only receive a third of the votes, his party didn’t even receive the most votes of all the parties. The Conservative Party received a couple of points more in the popular vote but elected fewer members to Parliament. Unfortunately, once in office a Prime Minister has more power and fewer restrictions than a US president and we have no means to stop him other than parliament which he controls.
msldlasdj….[ static ]….dsflalkdfk….
Did you manage to escape in your Red Barchetta?
Critics everywhere raved about C-10, now view its stunning sequel C-36.
THRILL – at the Tribunals for mean tweets !
AMAZE – at the piss tests for dank memes !
This and so much more at C-36 !
the house suddenly goes from malevolent, unpredictable supernatural entity to a kind of Sufficiently Advanced Technology TARDIS
There was nothing sudden about it. The bent-necked lady existed backwards in time and space from the outset. She was always the ghost of future Nell. And Nell killed herself, becoming the bent-neck lady in episode 5. Exactly half way through the series.
The Red Room always existed outside time and space. In episode 8 Hugh tells Steve “There was no treehouse”.
Did you even watch the series??
Oh, sorry David – SPOILERS!
Have we had this yet?
https://twitter.com/ButNotTheCity/status/1408046565395251204
Have we had this yet?
I believe not.
O brave new world, that has such people in ‘t!
SPOILERS!
[ Summons henchlesbians. ]
It’s best not to struggle.
[ dangles limply ]
I deserve it 🙁
Oh, that Twitter thread from Captain Nemo is a rabbit hole of unintended (or not?) humor. Taken from the thread of the guy who posted “I had a trans hamster”:
Or did I quantum leap into the timeline where nobody wrote Atlas Shrugged?
The Stasi will wear smiley faces.
Mellow out or you will pay:
https://youtu.be/jrWflCJPM4w
adequate
/ˈadɪkwət/
adjective
More than the employee is worth.
Did you manage to escape in your Red Barchetta?
You know it!
More remotely popular music from Sun Ra.
Did you even watch the series??
This is why I try to refrain from discussing things like theme, mood and allegory in genre media.